YVONNE: “I DON’T FEEL LIKE A REFUGEE IN THE NETHERLANDS. I FEEL LIKE A ‘NEDERLANDER’.”

Refugees dominate the news. But all too often the discussion is about them, not with them. At Humanity House, however, refugees have their say. Why does somebody leave everything behind? And what does a refugee encounter during and after their journey?

On our Journey of a Refugee, students step into the shoes of a refugee. After that, they virtually meet eight people who tell their personal refugee story. One of them is Yvonne Artis Shaw from Jamaica, an activist who campaigns for the gay community and works for the first LHBT organization in Jamaica: J-FLAG. And Akhrat Selevani from Iraq, who explains what it was like to spend eight years living and waiting in various Dutch asylum seekers’ centres.

Combine!

Combine the Journey with a programme from one of our partners: a presentation on International Humanitarian War by the Red Cross or the lecture ‘Humanitarian Concern’ by ICCO and Kerk in Actie. You can also choose for a personal encounter with Sahar, Ayham, Mohamed, Qorban, Yaman or another refugee, who will tell their personal story. Students discover that ‘a refugee’ is a person just like us, with dreams, feelings and fears. Somebody who studies, likes to spend time with family and friends, and just have fun. In short: a refugee leads a life that is not all that different to theirs.