One Refugee’s Story
The Trump administration has slowed down the refugee process, calling for more vetting and sending a message of distrust. Here’s the story of one refugee who entered several years ago.
Guest blogger: Katie Blatter, law student, University of San Francisco:
I first met Joppa O. at a 4th of July 5K run organized by our local church. He was tall and clearly athletic—he flew past every other runner and won the race with ease. He had a smile that was contagious and was clearly a genuinely happy person. In talking with him that day, I found out he was originally from Ethiopia and had come to America just 5 years ago as a refugee. He grew to be a close friend to my family, and shared his experience of becoming refugee with us. With his permission, I share his story in hopes that it can illustrate why programs allowing refugees into our country are so important, especially in light of the recent presidential orders that have ban refugees from specific countries, and created a feeling of uncertainty for the future of our entire refugee system.
Joppa was born and spent his childhood in Ethiopia. “We had a lot of things, we had a farm, with all types of vegetation growing.” But when he was seven years old, his life changed forever. “The Ethiopian government came through [our town] on December 13, 2003 and took away everything. They killed a lot of people. I was living with my Grandmother. We had to run away from the House. I was seven years old at the time, I didn’t know where we were going. We ran into the wilderness and tried to find a place where we would be safe.” When Joppa and his family members returned to their village, what they found was shocking—“Over 400 people were massacred—Some were people that I knew. Some of the people that did the killing were our friends. They were part of the militia, and I still don’t know why [they did it]. So we decided to leave.”
It was then that Joppa and his family became refugees, fleeing first to Kenya. “Travelling was really hard. We had to get loaded in a truck with animals and hide as we crossed the border into Kenya.” They successfully made it to a refugee camp in Kenya, where he spent the next 8 years of his life. As he related his experience, it was hard for me to even fathom—“Being in the refugee camp for the 8 years that I was there, was very difficult. There is not enough food, not enough water. We would have to go hunting or go days without eating. There are some people that have family in America or abroad that can help them with some of their basic needs, but there was never enough.” He went on to say, “And the weather is really hot,” adding with a smile, “It’s like Texas or something!”
Still, Joppa said the refugees looked for ways to stay hopeful despite their circumstances. He related, “We always tried to look for someway to be happy and find a better life—It was tough, but over the 8 years I lived there we always tried to have hope.” Still, the hardships of the camps were hard to bear and he recalled “[seeing] a lot of people hang themselves because they were hopeless. They didn’t know if their chance would ever come [to leave the camp], so they would just give up their lives. It was really sad to see that.” Joppa claims that it was soccer that saved his life—he and the other children would play on fields set up by Save the Children, which allowed them to “be kids” despite the hardships of the refugee camp.
After 8 years, Joppa’s father finally got selected to come to America as a refugee. “It was a wonderful moment when I found out that we would be going to America. My dad was living in the refugee camp, and so was my mom, but I didn’t really know them. I lived with my Aunt. But when my dad got a chance to come to America, he decided to bring me. It was like we won the jack pot! It’s really hard to get an opportunity to come here. It takes a while. It takes a lot of patience and waiting. After we got our chance, the passports took about 8 months.”
“When I got to America, and it’s been 5 years now, it was like the promised land. You don’t have to worry about water, you don’t have to worry about food. We had all the things we needed for our life in America.” Joppa credits many refugee organizations for helping him and his father resettle in America, including the IRC and Save the Children. He commented, “We had so much help when we came to America. Adjusting to American life was hard because I didn’t know anyone, I had no friends, and it was summer, so I didn’t have school. But, then I started school, and the organizations and volunteers involved helped me—they provided food, shelter, water, a place to stay, they also helped me with my homework and helped me with my English.”
Now, 21, Joppa hopes to spend his life helping other refugees. He is currently serving as a volunteer missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and plans to attend college next year. He constantly repeated how grateful he was for the refugee organizations and volunteers who have helped him get where he is today. When I asked Joppa what advice he had for people wanting to help refugees, he simply said, “Just remember that your efforts ALWAYS help. I am so grateful for all the people who have helped me.”
The plaque below the Statute of Liberty issues a bold welcome to people from all nations—“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”—a welcome that indeed seems to focus on Refugees fleeing to America in hopes to establish a life where their most basic human needs of safety, food, water, and shelter can be met. Joppa’s story puts a name and a face to the global refugee crisis—His story is a reminder that this so called “problem” is made up of individual humans who are in need help. Turning our backs on refugees, and closing our doors to them, is truly a moral issue that taints the very core of our country. We are, after all, a country built by immigrants—many of whom were refugees fleeing religious and political persecution. The future of our refugee programs is indeed uncertain. My hope is that our current administration will recognize the moral implications of refugee bans and that these bans will not be allowed to continue, nor be extended to other countries. Regardless, I agree with Joppa—our efforts ALWAYS help. And so, even in the face of political uncertainty, we should continue to reach out and help refugees in any way we can, be it locally, nationally, or internationally.
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