(Author: Rita Rhoda Stroud  )

Hello to all of you listening or reading the podcast “We are the Future”. I am Rita Rhoda Stroud and in this episode I will be discussing an important issue in today’s global world: how to advocate for school-aged immigrant and refugee children.

Imagine you are a child (18 years old or under) that had to leave your home alone or with your family.  As an immigrant, you would move to a new country simply to be close to family, or due to economic factors. As a refugee, however, you would flee to another country in fear because of famine, war, poverty, natural disaster, or gang violence. How would you feel in this new country with a different language, different customs, and people who look different than you? Even worse, how would you feel if you stayed in a refugee camp, with no schools or hospitals and no hope for you to ever go back to your home? Would you take pride in your heritage, or would you hide it? Would you feel grateful that you are safe in this new country, or would you be scared of being deported? Would you be able to make friends or stay as an outsider feeling you would never fit it? Children of immigrants and refugees face these problems as they walk through their lives in an unknown country.  #WeAreTheFuture #TakeActionProject