Freedom and Responsibility Day
Emanuel Year 9 students, studying Freedom and Responsibility within our Jewish Tradition, engaged in a day of special programming regarding refugees and the quest for freedom within our world. Please find below a description of and reflections upon the day’s activities and experiences.
Rabbi Daniel Siegel, Head of Jewish Life
Freedom and Responsibility Day reflections
On Tuesday 7 May, we were lucky to be able to learn about Syrian refugees in a day full of exciting activities and learning experiences. Our day comprised of hearing from a speaker from Kids Giving Back, making puppets, cooking a traditional Syrian dish and finally hearing the story of a former Syrian refugee.
Our eventful day started with hearing from Robin, representing the organisation Kids Giving Back. She told us about her experiences while volunteering at a refugee camp in Lebanon. She told us about some of the Syrian refugees she met, mainly children, and how they had to flee their homes in order to stay safe. We learnt that these people were just regular kids like us with homes, families and schools, but because of the war, they were forced to leave the safety of their homes and seek refuge elsewhere.
We learnt that many children came home one day to have their parents tell them to pack a backpack full of their things, which is all they could take with them when leaving home for an uncertain amount of time. Many forgot their identification or passports making it extremely hard to cross borders to seek refuge. While fleeing, families were separated and sometimes never reunited.
Robin shared how many of these refugees were now living in camps close to the border of Syria and Lebanon in a place called the Beqaa Valley, where bombs could often be heard going off in nearby Syria. The people in these refugee camps live in simple tents on land owned by farmers and due to the fertility of the soil there, the refugees are able to pay for their accommodation by working in the fields. The children in these camps have obviously missed out on much of their schooling however the United Nations Human Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) allowed for the kids to attend school in half day shifts so as they could still work as well as be educated. By providing these children with an education it allows them to have aspirations for their futures and keeps them engaged and hopeful.
Sock puppets
After learning about this Syrian refugee camp and the enormous difficulties that were endured, we were tasked with making sock puppets for the children. We learnt how the sock puppets that we made would enable the children to not only have fun with a new toy but, the puppets could also act as a means of communicating with others. As well as this, the puppets created a way of helping the children in the camps deal with some of the possible trauma that accompanied the hardships they had to face being refugees. We were given supplies to make the sock puppets and each of us then set about making them. We added eyes and hair to the socks and each puppet created a new character with which the children could interact. While we made the puppets, we not only were having fun, as it was a creative and engaging activity, but we were able to leave that day thinking that the simple act of making a puppet could possibly bring some children torn apart by war, some happiness.
For the second part of our day we were able to take part in cooking the Syrian dish, Makloubeh, with the help of Housen, a young man, now living in Australia who came here as a Syrian refugee. We were split into several groups and then talked through the different elements of the recipe. Making the dish consisted of frying vegetables such as cauliflower, eggplant, carrot and potato. We then had to layer these vegetables at the bottom of a large pot along with fresh tomato and then add a layer of rice over. We then poured over vegetable stock mixed with an assortment of fragrant spices before letting the whole pot cook for around half an hour. Making this dish was as fun as it was a new recipe for all of us and we got to meet House who was able to teach us how to make this dish, as it was a traditional recipe from home for him. It was educational and learning from Housen was an incredible experience.
After we had finished cooking, we sat down to listen to Housen’s story coming to Australia and to eat the delicious food we had just made. Housen told us about his incredible experience in becoming a refugee and his journey to Australia. He grew up in a country town in Syria, where he was part of a large family where he was the middle child of seven siblings. He said he had a mostly happy childhood living a normal life, although his parents worked very hard to ensure their family did not fall below the poverty line and that him and his siblings could attend school. As a young adult, he found a job that he enjoyed and was living a happy life. This was all before war struck Syria and Housen’s life changed forever.
At the beginning of the war Housen’s father realised the danger of the situation and decided to take his family across to Iraq. However, Housen decided to stay in Syria looking after the family house and earning income to help provide for his family. At this time Syria was a dangerous place with frequent bombings, shootings and missiles. Housen decided to flee Syria as he knew it was his only option to stay safe. He travelled through numerous countries, eventually making his way to Malaysia so as to then come to Australia by boat. He spoke of a long and difficult journey. He told us about the times when he made it through border checkpoints, massive rivers and the experience of being a complete foreigner in a place totally different to the one he had left. He told us about how he was then smuggled by a boat into Australia yet when they reached Australian waters their boat was in such a dire state that they were rescued by the Australian Navy. He was then sent to an Australian-run offshore detention centre in Christmas Island, where he described what we know to be horrendous living conditions as a five-star hotel for him.
This put into perspective the extent of the hardships Housen experienced in his life. He was then moved to a detention centre in mainland Australia before being allowed to live in Australia. Only recently has Housen been given the right to work here and we hope that he will be happy and one day be able to join his family once more. His journey was moving and one we will never forget. Unfortunately, Housen’s story is not so unique and as of 2017, 65.6 million individuals have been forcibly displaced worldwide because of persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations.
Overall, we were able to learn new things from each of these activities and see our lives from the perspective of others not so fortunate. It reminded us of how lucky we are to live in a country free of war, where we have the privilege and the security of education, roofs over our heads and even luxury items. But the most important lesson we learnt is that these refugees are just like us and even in a bad situation they are still able to make the best out of a bad situation. We realised that many people become refugees overnight due to circumstances completely out of their own control. If so many of these refugees can live with the hope that they will one day return home we need to do everything we can to help them achieve this goal, even if it is just a small step like making puppets to help with their learning and bring a smile to their faces. If you want to learn more about this topic look at some of the links below, as with greater understanding of this global issue we can make a difference together.
We would like to thank Kids Giving Back for coming to teach us so much about the plight of refugees and giving us the opportunity to make a small difference to some of the children affected by war. Most importantly we would like to thank Housen for taking his time to come speak to us about his experience and we are most grateful for all the wonderful opportunities this day presented to us.
www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
By Lily Berger and Lilly Goldberg