Posts Tagged ‘refugees’
A Headteacher’s “Wish List”
This painting titled “My Village in Sudan”, taken from the UNHCR Refugee Art website was done by a young Sudanese artist named Bor Alier. Bor lives in Kakuma and was aged 17 when he did this. He explained his painting this way: “People came to visit our village and ask how we were and what…
Read MoreRefugees in East Africa
Well, I am pleased to say I got immediate feedback on the last blog including requests for more background on the refugee situation in East Africa. I usually try to keep it short, not wanting to bore the poor reader but as this is an important subject and one in which I have considerable first-hand…
Read MoreA Visit to Kakuma
Background: In a previous blog I discussed a visit to Kakuma, the large UNHCR refugee camp located in northwest Kenya. Here some new arrivals put up a temporary shelter. East Africa has long suffered from unstable governments, rebel insurgency, terrorism, warfare, droughts and flooding. As a United Nations Peacekeeper, I spent several years working and…
Read MoreWhy Refugees and Immigrants Can Be An Asset
Standing Tall Man Behold a stern, sober-looking man who is engaged in unsolicited acts of humanitarianism. I met him in northwest Kenya while visiting the Kakuma refugee area recently. Among the incredible things UNHCR staff members showed us was a project between locals and refugees. Local residents, who have survived for centuries as traditional herders…
Read MoreThis is How America Can Learn Humanity and Civility from Africa
Humanity And Civility in Action Last March I spent several days in Kakuma, a large sprawling refugee camp in northwest Kenya. In that population of some 200,000 refugees from all over Central Africa- Sudan, Uganda, Somalia, and the Congo — there is every type of broken, mistreated and beleaguered family unit. But nowhere did I meet…
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