CRWRC Helps Stage Refugee Simulation
A small group of high school students worked fromSeptember through January to put together a refugee simulation experience for a larger group of Grand Rapids Institute for Leaders' students.
The simulation program was a joint collaboration between GRIL, the Office of Social Justice of the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, and Bethany Christian Services – PARA, the agency's refugee program that is part of a larger network.
Seven students, under the leadership of Maami Dodi, a Calvin College student from Ghana who had an internship with GRIL, culled various ideas from existing simulation experiences and created a four-hour, Refugee Simulation for over 40 urban high school students.
The simulation took place on January 10. It included dramas of a village being raided, a refugee camp, experiential elements, such as choosing what to take with you, items to give up for bribes, and what path to take next. There also was information on health concerns, the role of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, how to advocate on behalf of current refugees, and a question and answer session with a current refugee from Myanmar now living in Grand Rapids.
The group plans to take this experience to other youth groups in the future – hopefully to integrate elements of reconciliation to the debriefing time, since the GRIL student group is a mixed-race, mostly urban group, and they plan to target suburban youth groups for the simulation experience.
"We are hoping to be able to do the simulation anywhere and everywhere - youth groups, Sunday School classes, schools, colleges and anywhere God wants us to go," says Denise Fase, director of GRIL.
The purpose of the program, she said, "is to raise awareness about refugees, about who a refugee is, about the experiences they go through, and about how we can better respond to the refugees in our communities and in our schools."
For more information call Kate Kooyrman at 616-241-1691, ext. 4236 or visit www.crcjustice.org. or Beth DeGraff at 1-800-55-CRWRC or visit www.crwrc.org. or Denise Fase at 616-301-6697 or vis e-mail at [email protected].
