At the beginning of our time at World Relief, as the new interns, we had the opportunity to go through "Walk in my Shoes," a three-day experience that simulated the process that refugees go through upon arriving to America...[F]aced with tasks that were both unfamiliar and daunting, it wasn’t long before we started complaining about the heat, the unfamiliar foods, and the stress of not knowing what we might be doing next. Yet we still knew that nothing truly bad was going to happen and that [in the] worst possible scenario we could walk to a gas station and find a familiar language and culture.
But for refugees, this is not the case. [After coming to America,] doctors become cabbies, teachers become farmers, and businesspeople become factory workers. [Sometimes] newlyweds lose relatives, parents must leave children, and thoughts are trapped without language to share them. Professional recognition, communicative ability, family ties, and social connectedness are left in the country of origin. Yet despite all this, among the refugees I’ve met, there is such an abundance of humility and hope. More than once, I’ve asked how someone liked his hospital cleaning or her tomato-picking job and heard that even though they might not love it, “America is good.” Complaints are so far and few between, it can be easy to forget the huge barriers that must be crossed to integrate into a new culture, as they are overshadowed by the truly outstanding kindness, ingenuity, and humility that these men and women exhibit every single day. --Elizabeth
