A Hero's Journey In Managua Summary

‘The Happiest Refugee’ discusses various concepts including the effects of war, the trauma that refugees experience, their desire to contribute to society and our negative attitudes towards them. After the war, South Vietnamese soldiers and their families were captured by the North Vietnamese Communists and held in labour camps. Some of these prisoners were eventually released (after 1976), however, they had no right to education, employment or government supplied food rations. If Ahn had not left this oppressive environment, he would have grown up in extreme poverty and would be a very different person due to the trauma that

From April 15 to October 31 in 1980, over 125,000 Cuban migrants arrived in the United States. Family members from America ferried relatives and institutionalized Cubans from the Cuban port of Mariel, in what was soon coined the Mariel Boatlift. Mirta Ojito, one of these ‘Marielitos’, as they soon were termed, grew up to write “Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus”. In this text, the author provides a historic account of events leading up to the Mariel Boatlift, narratives from important figures surrounding the event, and a personal narrative describing the struggle of her family to gain freedom from the socialist dictatorship of Fidel Castro. Throughout the story of the years preceding the boatlift and the influence that living in Cuba held on her life, Ojito describes the positive and negative elements of the both the political climate and personal life on the communist island which led to her eventual emigration to the United States.

Another technique used in the documentary to challenge the viewers’ assumptions was the use of narration to present facts about the refugee situation. These facts and figures give the viewers a truthful and realistic picture of the situation. Some beliefs that exist in Australian society are that we are taking in too many refugees; they are criminals, they are taking over Australia, using Australian tax payers’ money and changing our culture. However, we are presented with facts and figures that change our assumptions. For example, more than 30 million people have fled their homes with nothing but the clothes they wear, boat smugglers charge up to and over $10, 000 US dollars, 13, 000 refugees are accepted annually only 2,000 of those refugees arrive by boat. Despite what many people think, like Raye who believed refugees in Australia are “handed everything on a gold platter,” life in detention centres is hard. In Villawood Detention Centre, over 9 months, three detainees committed suicide and 18 caused self-harm.

The book begins by discussing the historical context of the war and time period in which refugees emerge into the scene. According to Tang, “the United States publicly positioned itself as the champion of displaced Cambodians, passing the 1980 Refugee Act and casting it as a global freedom project and Cambodian refugees as needing rescue by U.S. liberalism” (15). Throughout the book, Tang discusses how the United States contributes to the constant state of captivity that refugees experience from the minute they leave home to the moment they arrive in America. The United States’ participation in the Vietnam War gave rise to Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge; these conditions caused a lot of unrest and forced many people like Ra to flee or remain trapped in captivity under the Khmer Rouge. The United States’ perspective on their actions during the war do not acknowledge their contributions to the national refugee crisis. Refugees are viewed as a solution to the war in the American perspective; thus, Eric Tang introduces the concept of refugee exceptionalism: “the ideologies and discursive practices that figure refugees as necessarily in the hyperghetto but never of it” (14). Tang effectively outlines the subsequent chapters where they each address a certain way in which captivity is maintained for Ra and other refugees. In Chapter 3 that mentions the Welfare Resistance, Ra is shown to be

In 1964, Guatemala was being run by a military junta, violence was a part of every day life, the economy was in shambles, and jobs were scare (Cuevas, 2011). It was in this setting that a young man, my future father-in-law, took a chance at a better life for he and his family. Enticed by rumors of prosperity in the United States, Alex and his brother Rene saved their money to journey to Chicago, leaving their families behind in a search for hope that was borne of desperation. Alex left his wife Ruth with 20 Guatemalan Quetzal, the equivalent of $20 dollars, and their three children, Vivien, 5, Ingrid, 3, and Marvin, a newborn baby. What experience lay in store for he and his family? How would they fare in an unknown country, without

The most commonly accepted definition of a ‘refugee’ is set out in the United Nations 1951

My interviewee, Delia, is the child of Mexican-immigrants and was born in Mexico. At the age of eight, she was brought to the United States, which makes her one of many 1.5 generation immigrants (Feliciano Lec.1/4/16). For the remainder of this paper, my respondent will be referred to as Delia in order to conceal her identity. In this interview paper, I will discuss Delia’s family’s migration

In today’s society, many people do not think about the outcome that immigration can lead to. It has been noticed that immigration into the United States is increasing more rapidly than ever. Recently, talk of allowing a large number of refugees to travel to the United States has surfaced in the media and has proven to be an extremely controversial topic. When it comes to refugees, many complications arise and some of these complications can be depicted in towns such as Clarkston, Georgia. In the novel Outcasts United, author, Warren St. John gravitates toward the expression of the idea of refugees and the struggles they encounter when coming to America.

Goal: To improve the lives of refugees, asylees, parolees, and survivors of trafficking by helping them to acquire the cross-cultural information, skills, and social support network needed to gain stability in society and supporting them as they achieve educational and economic goals.

Tying the laces on her tennis shoes, she spotted her slender image in the cheval mirror. She had gotten thinner over the past year. She always had a slender build with delicate features, but with the extra loss of weight, she appeared more fragile. Even so, she looked acceptable and was now ready to face the other guests.

“Heroic Journeys: The Immigrant Experience as the Hero’s Journey in El Norte and La misma luna” is written by Professor Susan Wiebe Drake of Murray State University, analyzing the relationship between Joseph Campbell’s theory of “hero’s journey” and two Latino-produced films: El Norte and La misma luna. According to the author’s analysis, in both films, undocumented immigrants are portrayed as heroes, because they all went through three phases corresponding to Campbell’s theory about the heroic journey: departure, initiation, and return. However, one significant difference between the demonstration of heroes in these films and Campbell’s theory is that, neither of the endings of both films is explicitly shown as positive, due to the failure of undocumented immigrants to assimilate to American culture.

“Her expression changed then, becoming fearful rather than merely pained. It was the look you get when facing a sudden and

The dilemma regarding the American refugee policy and America’s stance on refugees at this point in time is a challenging topic for many to discuss. Not only is this controversy affecting Americans, it is also hurting refugees in desperate need of our help. America needs to start handling the emerging refugee crisis by first working to remove the stereotype associated with refugees, then the U.S. needs to assess which refugee countries should (if any) actually be banned, and after accomplishing those-- America needs to work to help the countries in need by letting refugees in, and working to help the refugees live happily in their country of origin.

Cortez) if she thought he would, because she had also met with the parents before, so she knew of him. Come to find out, Mrs. Cortez was the father’s ESOL teacher years ago at Statesboro High School. She knew him better than I thought. During the process on a one on one interview with Luis Nava, my student’s father, Luis and I sat in my conference room at the school where I teach. He showed very much emotion when telling his story. It was a very humbling experience to here and watch someone tell a story first hand or something that I personally, had ever heard on movies. As he continued to talk, I couldn’t help but think of Nathan, (my student, his son) and how I had treated him as teacher. Had I been as welcoming as I could to my classroom? Had I showed understanding when he didn’t seem to understand? Questions began to overwhelm me as I thought of how I present myself as a teacher, educator, and friend to all of my students that are from a different culture than

Carlos works with a coyote , but she refuse to help Carlos cross the border. Then Carlos meets with two American siblings who are looking for extra money by crossing infants and children to the United States. The sibling agree to smuggle Carlos into the United States , but Carlos did not realized that it could of have end his life. The siblings way of smuggling individuals was by putting them inside the seats with no hole to breath from and hope for the best. Then issues occur during the process, and Carlos ends up in the hands of "Guerros"yet he is saved by a woman who helps immigrates by giving them a house and foods.