As Jessica pointed out, how often do we talk about refugee rights and issues? I mean, some of the most famous celebrities in the world are ambassadors for the UN and campaign quite frequently for refugee rights, yet somehow the topic evades every day conversation. I can post ridiculous and funny videos and links on Facebook and get numerous comments and “likes” yet any post regarding the topic of refugees seems to go unnoticed.
THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE.
And the only way to make this change is through raising awareness. So throughout the winter 2011 semester that was the goal of our local WUSC chapter. Months of preparation, hours of set-up and numerous volunteers made it so that we could raise awareness on campus about the main issues in regards to refugee camps around the world. On April 4th and 5th we created a refugee camp in one of the main buildings on campus. There was no way to walk past us and not wonder what was going on. A series of interactive tents were set up and made to resemble the numerous camps in Africa. There were fires, clothing lines, multi-media tools to spread messages and information, beds made of barely anything at all and even food! The goal was to try to be as authentic as possible which meant that as you walked around the “camp” you experienced similar smells, sounds, sights and tastes that a refugee would.
