Posts Tagged ‘refugees’
So you know who Kony is, now what?
Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. –Margaret Mead
By now, pretty much everybody has seen or at least heard of the Kony 2012 video put out by the organization Invisible Children. Whether you agree with it or not, despite all the criticisms of the video, I’d say it’s safe to say that the video has accomplished its goal. It has made Kony famous. So what do we do about it?
Yes, you can buy the $30 action kit. I’ll say that for me, personally, I’m a bit skeptical of purchasing a bracelet. I know what the intent behind it is, but I am always disappointed when organizations tell me a story, compel me to support them, and at the end just ask me to donate money. I don’ t have money. I’m an AmeriCorps member, and if you know anything about AmeriCorps, you know that I don’t have money.
What you might not know about AmeriCorps is that they encourage civic engagement. Serving the community in our main role isn’t enough, we also have to learn about civic engagement and then participate in civic engagement goals. AmeriCorps wants its members to become active members of their communities. And I think that this spirit should be tied in with Kony 2012’s efforts. Because, when faced with a problem, most people want to do something. But then, faced with a problem of such magnitude as war, many people feel helpless. However, we don’t need to. Everybody can do something, and everybody should. Doing Something needs to become a regular, habitual part of our lives.
One thing the Kony 2012 video has gotten spot on is that every person can do something. Whether you totally support Kony 2012 or are one of its critics, you should still be doing something about something. If you feel that Kony 2012 has missed the mark and there are other problems in Africa, do something about one of those problems. What we need to do now is ride the wave of awareness that Kony 2012 has given us and mobilize as many people as we can to become engaged, either in their own communities or in larger world issues.
My goal today is to provide some kind of a starting point for Doing Something. I can’t tell you what is the best thing for you to do, and I can’t tell you what is the most important problem in the world that needs fixing. Unfortunately, our world has many of them, and they are all complicated, and they will all take many actions by many people to begin to improve. What it is up to each individual to do is find the thing or things that you want to support, then decide the course of action that you think will best help, and which will be the best fit for you. Here is a list of where we can start:
1) Educate yourself.
We all need to be aware of Kony, but I believe there are even more things to be aware of. Probably, we could all start out by just studying a map of Africa and learning which countries are where. In college, I took a course that required me to memorize which European countries had colonized/created which African countries. Let me tell you, a lot of the problems today stem from that period in time. The last thing we should do is pretend that their problems have nothing to do with ours when our histories and economies are so closely linked.
First, here is the most intelligent post I’ve seen about the Kony 2012 video., tweeted by Maria Popova of BrainPickings.org (I highly recommend that site, too). Read it, read the comments. I promise, reading the comments on this article will not numb your mind like most comments. Sure, some people get a little tetchy, but I felt that reading the comments was as enlightening as the article.
Second, here are some books I’ve read and can recommend. Search your library or Amazon for more, I’m only going to recommend what I’ve read.
The Middle of Everywhere: Helping Refugees Enter the American Community
The second one is about refugees coming to us in the United States. I read both of these books because they were on a reading list given to me by my AmeriCorps program, because they were found relevant to our service. Why? Because I worked in a public school in Minneapolis, and there is a huge refugee population.
You can also take community education classes. Minneapolis Community Education offered Somali Language and Culture when I was there, and I took it. It was good. I think they’re currently searching for an instructor for that course, but they have many other enriching courses. Unfortunately, a quick Google search doesn’t reveal to me any kind of national Community Education site or directory, but Google is turning up many local results. Hey, maybe someone should make a website that is a national directory of all Community Education programs. Good idea, right?
2) Educate others.
Write, photograph, make a video, start discussions. If you are passionate about something, write about it, talk about it with other people, make a video like Invisible Children did. Be smart about it like they were. A group of Duluth people concerned about poverty made a video and screened it at a local theater, and now all I can find are dead internet links to local media stories about the event back when it happened. Imagine if it were still on YouTube and I could share it here, furthering the discussion on poverty in my community. Start a discussion group, a book club, a letter writing club.
If you have a talent, donate it to an organization you care about. Take photos, make a video, write, make art, develop a website, anything, for a nonprofit whose mission you believe in. In-kind donations are as powerful as monetary ones.
3) Write letters to your representatives.
Here is where you can find out who your senators are.
Bookmark these links. Use them often. I’m not kidding, they give you their phone numbers!
Get other people to write to their representatives, too. I attended a panel of our local representatives when my AmeriCorps program visited Minnesota’s capitol, and they said they really paid attention when people sent them personal letters. When asked if they noticed when kids wrote them letters, they said they loved to receive them from students.
4) Volunteer. Serve your community. Or become part of a new community and serve there.
Idealist.org is a searchable database of opportunities in your community. You don’t have to go to Africa to make a difference.
If you do want to go to Africa, or any other developing countries, to volunteer, I’m sure Google will point you to some opportunities. Just make sure you use your critical thinking goggles before you pay any program to take you on. I had a friend in college who signed up to teach in Japan and it fell through because the organization was a scam. If you’re resourceful, you can even do it yourself, rather than go through a program. Find an organization, book your flight, navigate the transportation system when you get there. It’s fun that way 🙂 Transitions Abroad was a useful resource when I was looking into teaching abroad, and they seem to provide a lot of info if you’re willing to sift through the information. Doing it is a big deal, so you probably should be willing to do the research before you go.
Things you can do to help people from Africa in your own community.
I apologize that all of my examples will be for Minnesota, but I only want to recommend organizations that I’ve had personal experience with.
Teach English to immigrants. Contrary to anti-immigrant beliefs, people who come here DO want to learn English, very badly. The truth is, it takes 7 years of hard work and practice to completely learn a new language. So let’s give people a break if they speak with an accent, okay? Better yet, go help them by being a conversation partner, helping them with their English class homework, and by being a friend. They are the most eager students you will ever meet. In Minneapolis, I helped at the The International Education Center in an English class. They have classes several times a day, all week, and they’re all free. I found them through Idealist.org. The Franklin Learning Center also offers drop-in help to adults taking English classes. I toured this one when I was in City of Lakes AmeriCorps.
Mentor a child. Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities, at www.bigstwincities.org can connect you with children who need a friend. Many students are refugees from African countries in situations of violence. Even if they’ve been here several years, if they’ve experienced that violence and trauma of being in a war-torn country, it stays with them. Bigs Twin Cities offers different types of mentoring: you can mentor out of school, a few hours a week, and be allowed to drive them around and stuff, and that requires a super extensive pre-screening process (appropriately so). For a smaller time commitment, you can be a school day mentor. The Bigs Twin Cities staff will match you with a student who can meet with you once per week for an hour in school. This is a safe space for both parties to meet. One hour per week may not seem like a lot, but trust me, these kids look forward to it. You are their special person and they remember when you come.
Serve with AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps members do great things. You get to commit a year of your life to serving your community. Or any community. The living stipend and education award are the least of the benefits that you will gain from becoming involved.
I cannot speak highly enough of City of Lakes AmeriCorps. Their program focus has changed since I served with them to serving ELL students. I’m actually kind of sad that it did, because I wish that had been their focus when I joined! I did get placed at a site with mostly ELL students, so I accomplished my goal anyway, but I’m glad that they are now putting more focus on serving ELL students. In Duluth, True North AmeriCorps does great things in schools and community organizations, too. There are tons of other AmeriCorps programs, and they are all over. Google for your area, or visit AmeriCorps.gov. I suggest the Google search because sometimes programs don’t get listed on AmeriCorps.gov.
There is so much more.
There is so much more that you can do to help people in need and address big problems. Simply by taking the first step of volunteering, you will begin to learn things that you never would have thought to even ask about. I hope that this post can help give ideas to people asking “But what can I do?” I hope that it can help people who are feeling helpless in the face of our problems. I hope that it will promote civic engagement in our communities, and help people to step up and be citizens of our country and the world.
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