Dear C.I. class!
I have to say that all my research into the "Refugee and Migrant Crisis" in order to find material for our class for the last couple of weeks has left me sleepless. I am not sleepless because of working, but rather I am sleepless because of sadness!
Even though I had a great time last class, and I was really happy to see everyone and I really enjoyed your comments and observations and presentations, I also left last class feeling pretty hopeless.
As to the refugee and migrant situation that we've been discussing, the prevailing attitude of our class seems to be "we don't know what to do," and "there is nothing that can be done." This is how I feel too, and this is an honest reaction, and this is a reflection of the whole world's attitude: most governments seem to be pretty freaked out as well. Nobody really knows what to do, and nobody seems to have the power to "fix" the huge problems that are causing all these other terrible problems, let alone help all the people who need help right now.
It might be time to move on to another theme in our class, but I don't want to leave this topic on such a hopeless and helpless note. So this week, we will take one more look at refugees and migrants from a different perspective; from the perspective of two stories!
One story comes from a reporter who is in Europe following the migrants right now, and one story comes from a woman whose own home country has been torn apart since the 1970s.
The stories come to you in the form of one article and one video!
The article is short, and we will read it together in class. It is by a reporter who has been on the road covering the journeys of migrants in Europe. In class on Thursday, we'll discuss the images and observations that he gathered in this article. You may want to preview it!:
The video is 17 minutes long and is a talk by a person who returned to her home country even though it was dangerous to do so and even though she was living a good and safe life with her family in the US. Why did she want to go back? And what did she do when she arrived at a refugee camp of 7.5 million of her own people? Watch her talk to find out! We'll also be discussing her stories in our class:
Sakena Yacoobi: How I stopped the Taliban from shutting down my school
You will probably want to check out the transcript of this talk!! You can find it here!:
I think we'll have lots to talk about, and I can't wait to see you all on 10/15! And please feel free to share your own presentations and your own stories then as well! :) Please drop me an email if you'd like to present on 10/15!
Sincerely, Abbie
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