A Selfless Journey

While reading Refugee by Alan Gratz, I was very intrigued with how people helped out all three refugees in different time periods. There was Captain Gustav Schroeder who did everything in his power to ensure that the Jewish refugees arrived in a safe port. Isabel’s grandfather who sacrificed his freedom for his family. Then, there was the villagers who welcomed Mahmoud and the rest of the refugees to their town. These simple acts of selflessness were very inspiring and had me wanting to see other stories that are happening today. 

This journey led me to two separate families from Sudan. Emanuel took his wife, three children, and his recently murdered brother’s two children on a trek across Sudan to Uganda. During the same time, Peter, who is 14, witnessed his parents being murdered and grabbed his younger brothers to escape Sudan as well. Both families were scared for their lives, but they made it to Uganda and live at the Imvepi Refugee Settlement. The most powerful part of this story was how Emanuel met Peter and his brothers at the settlement and decided to raise them as his own kids. 

From there, I stumbled upon some videos that were created to raise awareness about refugees. One was a spoof on the reality TV show “So You Think You Can Dance.” 

The video was powerful because they were actual stories even though they used fictional characters. To me, it seemed like a futuristic game show which is kind of disturbing to think about, but I think that was the goal of the video. 

The next video I saw was a social experiment and it had a very powerful message. It showed people reacting to someone when they wore something offensive, but there was no reaction when they asked for help. You see this happen a lot today and it’s sad that no one has the same reaction to a “Help Refugees” sign.

I finally stumbled upon an amazing article about the company Lyft. They are working with 50 non-profit organizations across the nation to provide free credits to immigrants and refugees to make certain appointments. I thought this act by a major company was amazing. This reminded me of Captain Schroeder and all that he did for his passengers. 

I enjoyed taking this journey to learn about some of the stories happening today and how companies and individuals are bringing awareness to the refugee crisis. It’s rewarding to know people are still selfless today and it only takes one person to spread kindness like a wildfire. 

Borders

Before reading Water Knife, I had never heard the term “coyote” before unless it was referring to the animal. I knew that people held the position of human traffickers who smuggled migrants across borders, but I did not know there was a specific name for them. In Water Knife, the border between states is described just like the border between Mexico and U.S. There are paid individuals who attempt to smuggle people across and there are others who use force to keep migrants out. One thing that I found interesting was how border crossing was a business in the book and it made me wonder if the Mexico and U.S. border had a similar business today.

In Water Knife, the Vet controlled the unlawful aspects of Phoenix—gangs, prostitution, and a fee for protecting businesses. The Vet reminded me of a cartel, and he had his hands in everybody’s pockets. At one point, he had mentioned to Maria that if she did some work for him—prostitution—then, he could have got her across the border to California. The Mexican cartels are doing something similar, but they are using kids ages 12 to 17 to smuggle migrants across borders. In the article, it stated that a kid can receive $200 for every Mexican they bring across the border and up to $500 for anyone else in Central America. The article went on to say that on average an adult working in a factory in Juarez can make roughly $5 a day. You can understand why some kids would jump to that occupation even though they are dealing with a corrupt business. These kids are being paid handsomely compared to an average Mexican factory worker, but it is the cartels who reap all the benefits. 

In the video, another "coyote" discusses the payments received for human trafficking. 

As the video discussed, it is very startling but not surprising how many hands are in the honey pot. Human trafficking is a business and everyone wants a piece of the pie. The rate of transportation is what drives up the price, and if you have more people involved in getting people across borders, the payments will increase in order to pay those individuals. This left me wondering on how a solution can be made. Kids shouldn't be "coyotes", but with an increase in demand, can you really blame them? A new system needs to be put in place to allow individuals to seek refuge safely and for a less cost. I think we should expand work visas to migrants who want to work jobs in the industrial field, food and farming, and culinary. There are five categories ranked from the importance of an individual's job, but what signifies the importance of an immigrant.

If someone wants to come to America to work in agriculture, lawn care, construction, or cook at a local restaurant to provide for their family, how does that make them less important then someone becoming a doctor, lawyer, or educator. The immigrants we give work visas to who don't work the high end jobs, or have higher education are just as important if not more. Those migrants want to survive and give opportunity to their offspring. Isn't that what we all want to do? It's time to seal the pots and swat the hands because greed isn't the answer anymore. A solution needs to be made, so individuals can prosper without fear again.