What It is Like Working With Refugees

I am a lucky person. I work with refugees. I wrote about that here. I think it is time for a little re-cap of what I have gotten so far from teaching these courses.

I hope this partial list will act as a counterweight to what we see in the papers. It seems every time someone foreign is mentioned in the news, it is a story about violence, drugs, honor killings, and terrorism. There is none of that here.

1. My refugees are not angry people. They are happy, grateful, friendly people. They like Trieste.
2. My refugees have a hilarious sense of humor. We laugh a lot together.
3. My refugees are intellectually curious. If they could have 8 hours of class a day, they would.
4. My refugees are making friends with locals. I see them at the beach meeting each other and talking to new people as well.
5. My refugees treat women with respect. They come and greet me when they come in and say thank you when they leave, even when I am not teaching them. They are respectful of all of the women I have seen them around. They speak highly of their mothers, their grandmothers, their sisters, their wives (when applicable). Three of my refugees know how to sew very well because their mothers and grandmothers taught them.
6. My refugees speak several languages already, so learning Italian is going fast for them, English too. I can't believe the progress I have seen them make.
7. My refugees think eating pasta every day is a little much. They think we should eat more rice.
8. A sense of time can be learned. My refugees used to be late all the time, now they are punctual.
9. My refugees help each other. When they see another student struggling, they come along to the rescue in a kind and sweet way.
10. My refugees have given me new hope for the future. I am a changed person because of them. I recognize them as individuals and can now read the news with a grain of salt. There are many many people like my refugees and I hope I get the chance to teach them, too.

If you see someone walking around Trieste who looks like they may be a refugee, smile. See that person as an individual. It will change something in you, too.