STAFF ED: How to Get Involved

Many Clayton students are wondering how they could get involved
helping Syrian refugees in our community.

Facts and opinions about the Syrian Refugee Crisis have inundated both national and international news channels for the past few years. With such mass media coverage, it is easy to stray from the “point of contention” and proclaim the issue as too grave and expansive to really make a difference. While this politicization of the refugee crisis can portray the Syrians as a large mass of people, and thus the matter as an impermeable situation, the truth is that the issue is a human issue: meaning it is full of individuals who each have unique stories and are hurting in such deep ways.

The fact that this is a human issue further proves that the Syrians’ situation is far from an impermeable one.

Each individual refugee, or group of refugees, aided by community members like us, makes a difference. We can drastically increase someone’s quality of living, help someone feel more welcome, and help someone access opportunities they may not have had.

Sure, this will not put an end to the violence in Syria, but it will help another human being — one of the masses — live more comfortably and happily and thus it will make a difference.

There are many ways to get involved and start the process of helping a community in need.

The first, and by far, the easiest, is just to be welcoming; a smile goes a long way.

Secondly, get to work. Contact the International Institute for volunteer opportunities such as co-teaching English classes, babysitting refugee children, serving as a career mentor, or even just writing kind notes to hang up around the Institute.

For those who are seniors or have graduated high school, you can develop a lifelong bond with a refugee family by going on home visits to teach English via the Immigrant and Refugee Women’s program. No worries- men can also volunteer.

Winter is approaching; start a coat, warm socks, holiday gift, or snowboots drive at school, church, or your workplace. Many families struggle to afford the bare necessities. The Globe has committed to hosting fundraisers and clothing drives during the school year to help the Syrians and other refugees as to provide the community a means to contribute.

In terms of housing, refugees are often resettled in dangerous neighborhoods because the International Institute can only subsidize the rent for the first 90 days after arrival; their budget is getting cut more and more due to federal and state policy.

Lastly, contact your legislators. The seven nation travel ban enacted by President Trump has prevented Syrians and many other nationalities from being able to take refuge in the United States. Additionally, new legislation will decrease the amount of refugees let into the country by more than half. Previously, the maximum number of people granted asylum was 110,000. Now, the ceiling lies at 50,000. Syrian Muslims have been indefinitely banned until the President decides otherwise.

We all know the world is a big place. It is full of vast geography, culture, peoples, traditions, and languages, but when people are hurting it doesn’t matter what hemisphere we live on; we all share the same responsibility as a human to help one another. We invite you to take this issue of The Globe as an opportunity to adjust your perspective. Yes, these people are coming from across the world, fleeing for their lives, but in the end, they are still just people, who want to be welcome and cared for when in need.

The political climate today has turned refugees into political props and scapegoats; it has become patriotic to be unwelcoming. Let us remember that we were all once strangers looking for a home, and now it is our turn to be the the candle in the window.