HUMPPPP DAYYYYY

Throughout our time here in Georgia the main theme that we have noticed it the importance of just listening. In the refugee community no stories are the same or similar… every story seems unreal because it is hard to fathom that these people actually went through these hardships.
This morning we went to the Clarkston Community Center to help out with there ELS interactive class. It was difficult during these classes because the room was loud and the structure seemed to be a bit all over the place, but in their defense it was LSG's first time holding class at the Community Center. In the  class we first played this game where one person stood on one side of the sheet and another person stood on the opposite side and the sheet would drop and we would have to say the other persons name [I know it sounds confusing….trusting me it was]. This game was good though because it got people out of their comfort zones. Next we played charades of occupations, again it was a little hard for everyone to understand but it was still fun. The most beneficial point of this time was when we were able to separate and talk to a table full of refugees and try to find out what we had it common with them. In this exercise it just showed that it doesn't matter what you go through or where you come from, we aren't as different as we appear. It also opened our eyes because some things that we liked that we wrote down were like sports, types of food, hobbies and for the refugees they wrote church, jobs and being clean. It showed us that they appreciate so much and the every day things that we take for granted like being clean and going to work are things that they look forward to everyday.

The two men in this picture are Farid and Ismail. Farid is from Afghanistan and was a civil engineer. Ismail is from Bhutan and is seriously so smart. He knew everything about colonization, geography, American and World history. They both shared their knowledge with us and taught us things about the U.S. that we didn't even know. The hardest thing was hearing this plethora of knowledge that they hold and because of the language barrier and their lack of status they are going to have to start at square one with entry level jobs which isn't beneficial to them of society because their knowledge isn't being put to use. This seems cynical but it's just really heartbreaking because refugee resettlement is such a great thing and there is so much that is being done for these people but at the same time it doesn't seem like enough.

In the afternoon we were still at the Community Center but this time helping to educate the children on plants and how to identify them and how to use them. These kids were so freaking cute and so eager to be doing something. It was still a little chaotic but rewarding at the same time. After the activity the kids began to warm up to us more and insisted on showing us all the rollie pollies that were in their plants or in the girls case play with our hair (even Josh's hair). Then they tried to teach us some gymnastics…. they insisted on trying to get Josh to do a cartwheel and land in the splits. He crushed it.

We ended the day by attending a slam poetry session by Mike Molina, the after school program director at Clarkston. The slam discussion was focused on listening to others stories, absorbing it, then applying it. It was directed at teachers but it applied to all. We are the keys to creating change in others and in order to do that we need to stop, listen, and understand. It applied perfectly to what we are doing here in Atlanta and afterwards the team seemed to appreciate this trip on a deeper level.

 Here's a video of one of his poems…I hope it works.

 https://www.facebook.com/danne.davidson.5/videos/10205338689363988/?pnref=story