Closeup on a camp

 

Before I moved to Vermont, I had very little to do with refugee students. I taught in New York City, where my largest population in my English Language classes was second generation Spanish speakers.

After that, I taught in Florida, where again, I had mostly second generation Spanish speakers, though I became pretty aware pretty quickly how much more apparent the conflicts were with barriers for children of illegal immigrants. My students were doing the best they could, only to find out that they were not eligible for college. “Why try, Miss? I can’t do anything with my diploma anyway…” It made me cry. And it made me believe in the DREAM Act, which may go away soon. And that scares a lot of people.

But now I live in Vermont. I have almost exclusively refugees. And the more I find out about camps, the more my heart breaks.

This video is powerful. And it doesn’t tell the whole story.

I worry about the monotony. I worry about what happens when one gets bored. Violence. Drugs. Gambling. Boredom breeds addiction. Addiction kills hope.

Take a look. We should be doing everything we can to make sure that people get out of these camps.