When I was eleven years old, I was living in one of the small Bhutanese Refugee Camp called Goldhap located in Jhapa, Nepal. Life in the refugee camp was simple for me since I was only 11 years old. But for most adults including my parents, it was very challenging. Since they didn’t have their own land; they couldn’t eat whatever they wanted to like in Bhutan where they had large arable land for plantation. People in camp were not allowed to work outside of camp. But to provide for their family they worked laborious jobs such as stone-breaking, road-cleaning, and ploughing (with an Ox). My parents did all they could to satisfy our needs and some wants. Ever since I was little doctors fascinated me so when I grew up I wanted to become one. However, I knew it was next to impossible to become a doctor in Camp because of financial situation. The turning point of my life was when I came to America.
Thankfully, I was born in supportive and loving family. Both of my parents worked very hard to provide for the family. My dad was a skilled carpenter thereby, he would go to different parts of Nepal and India to work. On the other hand, my mom stayed home and worked. She would make Nanglo; a flat, round tray made of bamboo and sell those to earn some money. Besides that, she did various other works such as sewing, sharecropping etc. Even though she was busy most of the time she never failed to encourage me to study. She was the first one to teach me the importance of education even
I’ve lived in places where healthcare was inaccessible, where doctors were not fully equipped with the tools necessary to preform regular checkups, and where people died chilling deaths from misdiagnoses or lack there of. I was born in Khartoum, Northern Sudan as my parents were in transit to come to the land of the free from Eritrea. In the midst of its 30-year war with Ethiopia, both of my parents fled the compromised country at the age of 18 and 20. The war had made it difficult for children to attend school, therefore my parents fled with what would be considered a middle school education. After two years and through much treachery, we successfully made it to America.
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 poverty causes. Refugees are here to escape poverty and persecution; because they have experienced severe trauma, they are at a much higher risk of psychiatric illness than the general population. I believe that these statistics can be reduced if our negative attitude towards marginalized groups changes. Because of the media and government induced stereotypes, Australians often show disdain towards refugees. This inhibits their adjustment to Australian society and creates further division among us. 'The Happiest Refugee' is a valuable resource in the fight against racism because it shows that refugees share our values, embrace our culture and are eager to contribute to Australian society, and I strongly support it’s inclusion in the Rochedale State High School English program.
Life nearly came to an end to one of Australian’s leading comedians Anh Do nearly 40 years ago! His absolute inspiring story from tragedy to comedy has won the hearts of so many readers, both nationally and internationally. The Happiest Refugee is an award winning memoir which re-tells the incredible, uplifting and inspiring story of Anh Do. A man who turned his dream into reality.
For the podcast, I interviewed Lina Abdulnoor, with the intention of exploring the intricacies of refugeehood by analyzing Lina’s refugee experience. Lina lived in Iraq with her family until they began receiving death threats due to their religious beliefs. Convinced that they needed to flee the country to survive, they left Iraq as refugees. After leaving Iraq, they settled in Jordan, where they waited two years until the U.N. to approve their request to move to the U.S. in 2012. Lina and her family initially settled in Virginia, where she experienced culture shock as she adapted to American culture and the English language. However, Lina did not feel accepted in Virginia; her experiences in the state led her to think that Americans treated her according to negative stereotypes of Iraqis. After living in Virginia for several months, Lina and her family chose to resettle in San Diego, California, which harbored a larger Iraqi population than Virginia did. Supported by San Diego’s Iraqi community and various refugee organizations, Lina flourished, and she currently studies at UCSD while holding a stable job.
Refugee camps are places around the world where people who were forced out of their go and stay temporarily. The camps are not a nice resort or a place to have fun, they have worn down tents for people to stay and very low sanitation. In the book Other Side of the Sky Farah the main character escapes Afghanistan and later on stays at a refugee camp. In the refugee camps refugees live in tough conditions, Farah and her Mother have a hard time in the camps especially with her mother's problems, which many refugees also face. In the refugee camp Farah says “If I'm going to sink anyway what does it matter whether I think we sink quickly or slowly. You lose your drive (Ahmedi 123).” These camps have poor sanitation, are overly crowded, there are many
The development of acceptance is a process laid upon several significant factors, and by belonging in community settings, one may gain confidence and feel tolerated. Likewise, being alienated and ostracised because of racial and social insecurities can have a negative influence on how one may act, and thus outcasts are made to feel inferior as a result of the harmful manner in which they are treated. These concepts of inclusion and discrimination are explored through the contemporary memoir of Anh Do, which focuses on a refugee’s journey from Vietnam to Australia. The Happiest Refugee (2010) methodically displays an array of perspectives surrounding belonging and presents factors of both family and community allegiance.
Ever since I was a young child, my parents always told me to try my best in school, they always told me this for the reason that they never had the opportunity to have a good job because they never finished school. This event is shaping me to care a lot regarding my education. In addition to that, another event that has shaped me to become the person I am today is that since my parents don’t have good paying jobs they have to work hard to take care of me and my siblings this event has caused me to become a hard working person and to seize all opportunities to live a good life because I don’t want to struggle like my parents.
I experienced many different cultures, ethnicities and traditions when my family lived in Thailand. We lived in a Refugee camp and it was not like an America society. Every month, a volunteer group from a big city would aid every family in the refugee camp with bags of rice depending on how many people are in your family. There were about ten schools in the camp which were public schools and Catholic schools. Schools and houses were built out of bamboo and trees, and the buildings don't last more than a decade. Life was not easy in Thailand. Not every parent had a job and they found other ways to make money to provide for their families. There were many cultures and different ethnicities living in the same area and our neighbors spoke different languages and they were from different ethnic groups. There are many holidays and cultural traditions that we celebrate every year by dancing, playing music, and having big festivals.
Our cohort is nearing the end of its secondary education and therefore it is important that we reflect on the ways in which it has shaped our attitudes, values and beliefs. For example, over the past five years, we have read, analysed and evaluated various literary works such as novels, plays, poems and films in our English studies. These texts have expressed various ideologies, explored interesting themes and introduced us to fascinating characters. These elements have left a lasting impression on our attitudes, values and beliefs. In addition to this, English literary texts have provided us with historical knowledge as well as a thorough understanding of the role that aesthetic devices
Moving to America was the biggest change in my life. Before, I know very little of this world and my thoughts and opinion were very narrow. I did not have the best education and I think little about my future since I lived in a refugee camp. I also could not open myself up to people of different background because of the lack of diversity while living in the camp. But moving to America I was introduced with a new culture, education, and diversity that changes my life and my views.
Growing up I came from a family of two sisters and a brother. My parents worked hard to be sure that there was always a roof over our head, food on the table, and clothes on our back. My worked for various companies until he was able to obtain his degree as an electrical technician. Today he maintains his own business known as McGhee Electric. My mother also took on various jobs to make ends meet. She began work as a cosmetologist and
The 1980’s Derg revolution in Ethiopia is truly the beginning of my story. In the 1980’s, the violent rule of the Derg led both my parents to flee to Sudan where they eventually met. After years of applications to foreign countries, my parents gained visas to America as refugees in 1989 and moved around until settling in Florida in 1993. Their move to the Americas allowed me to gain access to the American education system and eventually to American colleges. When I was approximately 7 years old one of my uncle to whom I was particularly close began to have seizures and was diagnosed with brain clot for which he underwent surgery. My family and I spent a great deal of time in hospitals, and I gained an appreciation for the work that doctors
I was very frightened when those red eyes stared at me from a distance. I froze as the water sent ripples through the water from all the rocks. I felt a like I should scream but I knew that my grandparents would be mad to see me out here in the dark by myself. I was thinking of running back to my grandparents house but I didn’t want to take the risk of the red eyed animals to chase me and then catch me and eat me. I wondered what animal it was but I was really thinking it was a coyote because I had heard the call of one just a minute ago. I knew I had to get it out of here or I had to get out of here. I needed my flashlight to find my way back. I decided to make a run for it. I ran as fast as I could but I could hear something behind me cracking all the twigs that were in it’s path. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!. I was getting tired by the
After my first debate coaching session, I was completely compelled by the natural talent that our students had. Not only could they eloquently beat us in the ‘UM’ game by more than four minutes, but their ability to synthesize information from our fact sheet on refugees and then come to a conclusion on how an inflow of refugees in a country will impact it economically blew me away. We knew that beginning our research on the refugee crisis would be most effective by using a fact sheet made by us, as Quintilian says that beginners should be given predigested material, and led down a track which they can follow without help (2.6). By reading lots of articles and gathering facts we found critical to developing a pro and con list, we were able
From 1991 over one-sixth of Bhutan’s people flee their country and take a shelter in Nepal, India and other countries around the world. The large populations of Bhutanese refugee are called lhotshamps, an ethnic group, who were forced to leave their country in the early 1990s. Among 105,000 Bhutanese I’m one of them. I was born in a hut made of bamboo, food rations, and dirt roads. We are hostile, unsettled, unsure of who we are and what future held for us. I often think can we ever able to get rid out of the tag called “refugee” would my life ever changed, while ongoing tussled between mind and outside world finally in 2008 United States open a door for us to settled in the United States a “promised land” with full of struggle in 2009 we came here at Grand Forks. As I was growing up in the refugee camp I have seen a countless number of violence, crimes, injuries, and rebuff that words can’t be described. Most importantly death of people from a disease that can be a cure if, we have enough facilities such as, advanced medical training and hospitals. Although during my early childhood I have seen so much of maltreatment and practices, I always thought of having a career in health-related profession because I wanted to invest and improve the lives of individuals so that their children don't have to orphans, forced to work when their parent died, nor they have to beg for food. When I was 10 years old, my friend and I were trying to climb up the mango tree and I step in