Sharing photos, stories, poetry and prayer, three graduate students with 草莓社区鈥檚 have joined together to offer personal perspectives on the Syrian refugee crisis.
Ahmed Tarik, Jordan Detwiler-Michelson and Myriam Aziz have presented at Park View and Shalom Mennonite churches in Harrisonburg, and they hope to continue sharing in the future. Each has recent experience in Syria or with Syrian refugees.
At Park View, the group presented beneath brightly-colored banners reading 鈥榝aith,鈥� 鈥榟ope,鈥� 鈥榣ove,鈥� and 鈥榡oy鈥� and depicting simplistic imagery that contrasted vividly with the evening鈥檚 subject matter: a clash between the ideals of faith and humanity and war鈥檚 injustice.
A former refugee urges compassion
Tarik opened with a poem called 鈥淗ome鈥� by Somali-British poet Warsan Shire. He read, 鈥淣o one leaves home unless/ home is the mouth of a shark.鈥�
Born in Baghdad, Iraq, Tarik fled his home city in 2006 due to war. He sought refuge in Damascus, Syria for three years. During that time, Tarik worked as a photographer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) documenting the life of Iraqi youth refugees in Damascus.
Tarik directed attention to what is widely considered by the United Nations and other organizations with a history of involvement in refugee matters to be the s since World War II.
鈥淚t is not easy to be uprooted from your home for no other reason than violence,鈥� he said.
Tarik urged those present not to treat Syrian refugees like a burden, as Syrian families readily opened their homes to his other families fleeing the Iraq war.
Roots
Detwiler-Michelson, also a second-year graduate student, was one of the last members of Mennonite Central Committee鈥檚 team to leave Syria in 2011. The school in which he taught is now, he says, headquarters for Kurdish military forces.
The Syrian refugee crisis 鈥渆xists within a complex and dynamic political landscape,鈥� he said.
Using his own photographs of Damascus, Detwiler-Michelson sketched the cultural richness of that city鈥檚 ancient history. 鈥�What does it mean to leave home when home is where your family has lived for 4,000 years?鈥� he asked.
Detwiler-Michelson鈥檚 own sense of Damascus as home developed during his sojourn with members of the Syrian Orthodox Church community, ranging from laypersons to the church鈥檚 archbishop and his retired predecessor. From these Syrian people, many of whom are now displaced, Jordan says he learned about true service, full joy and the meeting of challenges as a community.
In a gesture of solidarity, Detwiler-Michelson played a clip of the Lord鈥檚 Prayer sung in Aramaic 鈥� a lament that evokes the current suffering his Syrian friends now face.
Case worker processes refugees
Finally, Aziz detailed her recent experiences as a UNHCR case worker determining refugees鈥� legal status in in Lebanon. [Aziz returned to Lebanon in December to meet with refugee families and begin work on a CJP-funded film project that she hopes will help Americans better understand who Syrians are.]
Lebanon, a country of 4 million people, is now home to 1.3 million Syrian refugees, she said.
However, as Lebanon does not assign legal refugee status to persons fleeing conflict in Syria, this displaced population is known in Lebanon as 鈥渁sylum seekers.鈥�
Registering with UNHCR is the only path to legal refugee status for Syrians, but that process is long and rigorous.
Aziz used personal photos to show life in the temporary UNHCR camps. She also discussed daily shortages of food and other resources.
One goal is sharing her stories and photos, she said, is to highlight that 鈥渨e fear what we don鈥檛 know — if you know these people then you won鈥檛 be so afraid.鈥�
Myriam Aziz and Jordan Detwiler-Michelson will speak Feb. 28, 2016, at the Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalist Church. Both Aziz and Detwiler-Michelson are available to speak to area organizations during spring semester; Tarik is completing a practicum out of the area. For more information or to inquire about booking a presentation, contact the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.