middle school my name’s Arielle Solomon
and I’m in the eighth grade all of us
sitting in this room today are
especially privileged with few
exceptions we lead our lives able to
celebrate our family’s traditions and
religious beliefs while freely pursuing
an education within an academic
environment rich with opportunities far
away and unimaginable to our minds
refugees flee war-torn countries
political oppression religious
persecution and famine some are born
into refugee status and never leave it
others lead normal lives anchored by
families occupation and children only to
find themselves up rooted with lack of
shelter food and means i wish to support
themselves regardless of how someone
finds himself lay with a refugee man
woman or child he or she eventually
loses more than the individual material
items that may have been hurley left
behind or job title once warm with pride
or school previously attended they lose
their individuality the myriad
characteristics that wants to find them
within an interconnected rooted
community just how big is this problem
really the United Nations refugee agency
estimates that 20 1.3 million people
have misplaced worldwide wars and
climate change have led people elite
fleeing their homes at unprecedented
rates indeed is estimated that there are
more displaced people now than they were
following the end of the Second World
War what are the immediate consequences
of the forced migration of refugees the
most readily identifiable answers are
loss of shelter loss of income
separation of families loss of health
care and sometimes violence and even
death prolonged a refugee status means
an extended state of limbo where they
cannot make plans for the future they
have difficulty educating their children
they live in enclosed communities and
they have difficulty believing in a
better future because they don’t know
what’s going to happen to the next
this problem is not unique to our time
period our most recent experience was
such overwhelming human misery occurred
in a time period leading up to and after
the Second World War vast amounts of
people from the continents of Europe
Asia and Africa fled before invading
armies and sought refuge from
persecution based upon citizenship
religion sexual orientation and
political party affiliation whether
we’re talking about the refugee crisis
of today or the horrific narration
narrative that occurred during the 75
years ago the overwhelming scale of
human misery is not just I’m Arish and
scale and scope it defies imagination
both our own imagination and that of the
individual refugee and therein lies the
issue and our challenge we were
embarking that our vision is blurred and
we’ve a black detail so many of us say I
want to do something but most do nothing
unable to conceptualize how their
individual efforts would make a
difference so similarly the person in
the refugee sees in the mirror is not
who they once were and it is difficult
for them to imagine how a world can
remember and even care about one
person’s individual plight thankfully we
live in a world today that is
interconnected in ways never before
imaginable and we’ve recently seen how
internet and social media has enabled
individuals to organize mass
demonstrations within a few hours notice
and Facebook posts can go viral within a
few hours creating a cacophony of
comments and twitter has enabled a
little girl trapped in Aleppo to share
her hopes and fears with the
so maybe asking and so what what can I
do I’m only one person or I’m just a kid
my answer to you is you can do a lot
individual effort is powerful and
individual efforts of many can make a
difference I know I can’t address the
refugee crisis is up stay let alone
solve them and even though I’m an eighth
grade and I can’t drive and my mom still
won’t allow me to have snapchat I know
that I can make a difference because we
know what happens when we do nothing
people starve people die people are
forgotten people like my father’s aunts
uncles and cousins who once lived
laughed and loved in Warsaw as you may
know 8th grade has a community project I
have chosen to focus my community
project on the Syrian refugee crisis I
have created a blog called exchanging
minds my initial goal fifth blog is
simple I want to give a voice to those
who once called Syria home so that we
here are reminded of the human
experience is that each refugee
represents I also on my blog to be a
place for teenagers like you or me can
post comment and reach out to refugees
our own age offering a hand of
friendship encouragement and hopefully
help to quote one of our most prominent
refugees elie wiesel when human lives
are endangered when human dignity is in
jeopardy national borders and
sensitivities become irrelevant wherever
men or women are persecuted because
their race religion or political views
that place must at that moment become
the center of the universe each
individual refugee is unique and is
valued each and every one of us can make
a difference if we try be the solution
create the change we are all in this together thank you