Advanced Literacy Practices: Refugees

I chose to go to this event because in my Advanced Literacy Practices class, we are at a school in Waterloo where over half of the students are refugees from Burma. Our professors had told us that some of their customs may be different than what we are used to, so our job was to help them learn in the best way possible. I knew they came from hardships in the past, but I didn’t know what exactly. That is the main reason I decided to come to this event, to see what those hardships were. The presentation started out by another professor telling us that 2/3 of the population growth in Iowa is immigrants and that federal funding for refugees is not as strong as it used to be. We were then told my a member of RISE that Burma currently has the longest civil war taking place in world history. So far, it has lasted for 66 years and over 1 million people have …show more content…
Liberata Aung, is Burmese and has helped hundreds, possibly even thousands of Burmese refugees settle into a new life in the Cedar Valley. She started by describing what life was like in Burma and in the refugee camps located in Thailand. She told us that refugees can’t leave the camp, there is only basic health care and education, the refugees are not granted citizenship, they are overcrowded and many people have to wait 10 to 20 years before they are allowed to come to the United States. Dr. Aung also described how she helped refugees that were not in camps and trying to get to safety. She stated that one of the main fears Burmese people have is of the militia police. The militia police look for Burmese refugees and usually send them to camps, beat them, or even kill them. Some refugees try to look like they are part of the militia so they reach safety and possibly get jobs. Dr. Aung and others teach these people how to not get caught, mainly by acting like they are not Burmese. This requires them to not speak Burmese, don’t dress in Burmese attire, and look forward instead of at the