👤 Kevin Zepeda, Adult Coordinator
What is a refugee? A human being – a person who has left their own country and come to a new one, fleeing war and violence, or for political, religious, economic, or ecological reasons. The movement of people like this between countries, regions and, more recently, across borders has been a fact of human life since the beginning of time.
Migrant, refugee, asylum seeker – these are straightforward words that in fact describe mothers, sisters, brothers, sons, family-members, and friends. People who are strong, resilient, and full of humanity. They are people like you, people who wants more in life after losing everything they had. Some of them never make it to safety, tragically losing their life en route; parents losing children, children left orphaned, people losing partners, loved ones, friends.
Refugees are people who have been through the toughest scenarios and the most terrible of circumstances, of the kind you might barely be able to imagine. Traveling across deserts, oceans, woodlands, navigating difficult borders and people preying on them at every step. After all of that, here they are, smiling, serving you at your local shops, bringing joy and culture hoping it will be appreciated.
Leading by example
At CARAS, we care. We stand alongside our community, we welcome them and help them through the difficulties the face when they get here, encouraging them to keep fighting to rebuild their lives. Our work helps to bring their joy back, reminding them how strong and valuable they are, connecting them to other communities, and making them feel there is more out there for them, more to dream for, more to achieve, more to live.
Every individual is different, we embrace the diversity of people we work with, different ages, cultures, sexualities etc. We bring social activities, English support and practical support for them to navigate a new direction for their lives, helping them to follow the goals they set for themselves in their new home.
Personally, I love seeing frustrated faces transform into joyful ones as, through our work, we prove to our community members how much we care and how valued their contribution to their new home is. There are certain feelings that come from interacting with our community which are truly priceless: a hug after a trip to a place they always wanted to go, positive messages from those who, despite not mastering English yet, choose to carefully write down and translate it, or expressions of satisfaction after a delicious, shared meal.
At CARAS we lead by example, creating the conditions for change that we want to see. Organisations like ours are key to allowing refugees to realise their full humanity and to defy the cruel and hostile narratives that are mobilised against them. However, the government and media need to step up as well. Its incumbent on them to reverse their negative narratives around refugees and people seeking asylum, challenging negative portrayals instead of reinforcing and embedding them in government policy and communications, and media storytelling. As a government and a society, we need to be responsible and humane in words and deeds with how we talk about and treat the most vulnerable people in our society.