Those Wide Open Eyes

WHEN people set fire to public property which has become the pop-in-pill of the day they release a lot of toxic gas into the very air they breathe. The air which has already been polluted through mistakes of the past. What goes missing here, hind thought or the forethought? The greatest mistake, however, is that we forget the pairs of wide open eyes of little ones who study the mad acts of the adult world.

A father was holding a remote control in his hand while carrying on a heated argument with his son about plans for the son's higher studies, where both father and son differed dramatically at many points. Suddenly, the father slammed the poor electronic device down smashing it into a hundred pieces.

When people throw things down to break them into a thousand pieces in a fit of rage do they or do they not think of the trouble one has to face while cleaning up the mess? A serious question indeed. When such unwelcome actions are copied on screen in many movies how do we appreciate it? — as the director's authentic representation of life? Ok, so what credit does a child give the director? Over the course of many such scenes, the child subsequently learns another funny side of the adult world that may beckon him later!

The man who broke the remote control was a potato couch for whom going up to the television set to change channels was as tedious and irritating as climbing up a dozen flights of stairs. Yet, he did resort to it the following days until a new one arrived with an unnecessary bill! Then why on earth do people not manage their outbursts at least for their own sake? In their fit of anger they do not give a thought to those poor souls who have to clean up somebody's anger that scatters clumsily around. That is because when anger rears its head etiquette and decorum pick up their skirts and make for a run!

School results have come out in the sub-continent. I am saddened, not by the incredible number of flying colours, but by the number of suicides that followed as well. What is it that frightens these little angels who have so many other innocent qualities that adults have to learn from? A boy who secured a 90 per cent plus also chose the extreme tragic end.

What were his or his parents' expectations? A one hundred per cent? Was he too fast or were others' expectations fast. Some say he didn't have the financial facilities to steer him ahead. Maybe God had better plans for him! Needless to say that if we are not successful in saving our young ones from foolishly giving in to their emotions we haven't gained anything in terms of being role models.

Sometimes we don't understand why people stop loving themselves and rely greater on others' opinions on their self. Why do they give their precious selves up to others? The very next day I heard the news of a poor physically challenged person who was bitten in the face by a mad dog as people stood helplessly watching, fearing to go near the ferocious dog. He couldn't fend for himself as his entire structure was out of sync. Aren't we like the mad dog when we give in to the raging bull within us? We forget that we are blessed with every conceivable faculty to fend for ourselves against unconstructive emotions.

Tolerance is not a strained effort as many see it. If we strain to tolerate anger the persona of anger still remains with only a change of place. When tolerance is taken up with a pinch of strain, instead of heading for the other person it comes head on to yourself or simply burns the act itself giving no room for the light of peace that follows real tolerance. The "tolerator" ends up hating himself.

An easy way is, the moment we prepare ourselves to cool the fuming dragon, we have to believe that we are the owner of a particularly enlightened nature. We have to credit our merits and love ourselves. As we count our blessings we could also count some of the lovely forgiving angles in our nature that we are capable of. With that, we slowly fall in love with ourselves and that is the beginning of true life!

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A Historic Harbour Party

Epoch making changes are often triggered by apparently isolated events. What is popularly known as the Boston Tea Party, is one such historical occurrence that sowed the seeds for the great American Revolution that resulted in the nation’s independence. With the anniversary of that incident falling today, December 16, it would be apt to take a brief look at the story of that historic ‘tea party’ on this day in 1773. The sequence of events may be summarised thus. Three British ships carrying 342 crates of tea worth over ten thousand pounds arrived and docked at the Boston harbour. The colonist refused to unload the tea crates in protest against the taxes imposed by the British on its colonies. But the governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson was very firm that the ships should not return to Britain without unloading the tea crates.

On the fateful cold and windy day, a band of men who called themselves Sons of Liberty, dressed like Mohawk Indians, who lived along the Mohawk River, New York, boarded the ships and in a matter of three hours dumped all the 342 chests of tea into the cold waters. There were carpenters, schoolteachers, blacksmiths and farmers amongst them. They were sworn to secrecy. To avoid being recognised and caught later, they disguised themselves in old, torn clothing and woollen caps and wrapped themselves in shabby blankets. They smudged their faces with lampblack and chimney soot. They had the tacit support of the thousands of local onlookers.

The Boston Tea Party had a deeper significance. It was far more about liberty, economics and legislative representation than about being anti-British or anti-tax. Tea had a special place in British society and in American society as well. Also, since much of the drinking water in the colonies was still unsafe, the colonists relied heavily on tea as the common non-alcoholic beverage. The British had their own justification for imposing the tax. They had to make good the heavy financial loss incurred due to its Seven Years’ war (1756-1763) against France to win French controlled North American territory. Britain now faced a large post-war debt and the responsibility of protecting and governing additional territory. It wanted the colonies to bear part of the burden. Further more, it was argued that even with the tax added the cost was still lower than the tea sold by the Dutch.

But the colonists were in no mood to countenance such arguments. They were emphatic: ‘No taxation without representation.’ They were also sore that it was all a ploy to bale out the British East India Company which had a large reserve of nearly 17 million pounds of tea it couldn’t sell in Britain and was on the brink of bankruptcy. The British Crown allowed the East India Company to sell its tea to the American colonies without paying any taxes at all thereby undercutting its colonial competitors. It must be pointed in favour of the protesters that dumping of the tea into the sea was a very peaceful activity. They did not damage or destroy anything on the ship and they even swept the decks clean afterwards. Interestingly, the tea destroyed was imported by the East India Tea Company not from India but from China and grown in the Mountains in the Fujian Province.

The British government reacted strongly to the episode and enacted further acts to keep the colonists under firm control. They were asked to pay for the loss incurred. Even Benjamin Franklin, who had earlier unsuccessfully negotiated to settle the impasse amicably, felt that the colonists should pay for the ruined tea. But the colonists were not deterred by the hostile turn of events and stepped up their opposition to the British Parliament and the King. The momentum that built up led to the formation of the Continental Army to be led by George Washington. These revolutionary forces ultimately triumphed over the British imperialism.

A good parallel can be drawn from 20th century Indian history featuring the British. Mohandas Gandhi led the salt tax defying Dandi March in 1930. Gandhi and his followers courted arrest by breaking the bizarre British law that said only the British could produce salt. This was a peaceful and non- violent protest against the oppressive tax on a very common and essential commodity. The step unfolded a new chapter in the history of Indian nationalism by triggering a mass civil disobedience movement that ultimately won India’s’ independence from British colonialism.

The Boston tea party changed the course of America’s history. The American spirit and patriotism surged as the colonies united. The brave act of the Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Indians inspired the colonies to boldly challenge the mighty British empire and take a momentous step towards realising the dream of an independent and mighty nation.

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Why do towels get dirty?

I have seen the mother of junior replace used towels for fresh ones at a frequency of every three days. She does it so dutifully that one might think that she possesses a roster to help her do so. The truth is that she just looks and smells at them and makes a decision to replace them. She puts the used towels in a basket of laundry — ready to go to the dry cleaners. Then she hangs up fresh one with nice smell, beautifully cleaned with bright colours. I do believe that the five star hotels do this on a daily basis.

It’s explicitly clear to me that by the act of showering or bathing one’s intention is to make an effort to clean his/her body. This act is an everyday deed and I know many who do it twice and sometime thrice a day. Anyone who does not take a bath would look different and disgusting. Not only are stains and odours frustrating, the unpleasant smell would be unbearable to the second party. That kind of aroma that comes out of the area of the body directly under the joint where the arm connects to the shoulder could be so intolerable to the extent of turning the shirts yellow under the arms especially so when you try to use the so called ‘one rial each’ deodorants that add the stink of perfume to own smell.

When we take a shower, the purpose is to clean the body and thereafter stay contented that the body is free from dirt. What is surprising, at least to me, is that a towel — a piece of cloth used to dry the body after bathing or showering becomes dirty when actually it has been used on thoroughly cleaned body. If a towel is used for drying one’s body after bathing or showering, why would it be replaced since it is being used on a body that has been cleaned? I think this typically rectangular piece of cloth should not be replaced and thus save water, soap, time and energy. Soap from washing the towels can flow through the storms drain and ditches and end up in our streams and seas thus polluting the ecosystem. I can understand changing some smaller bath towels that are designed for use as bath mats. But changing towels used after bathing is open to discussion.

These kinds of things are what trigger my intellect (in case I have one). Then my imagination would start functioning. If the reason of replacing the towels is because they have acquired dirt then it might mean that when we take a shower our bodies are actually not cleansed and that is why the towels get dirty. Or the water that we use to take a bath with is somehow soiled and as we wipe our bodies that water leaves dirt on the towels. Or perhaps the pipeline that transports the water into our bathrooms is contaminated. If none of these reasons is valid, then let this be an assignment of research and development to all scholars and great thinkers. Let them undertake a systematic approach to find out why a clean towel used on a bathed body would become dirty.

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Difficult and hard times ahead!

My Economics professor used to tell us — “If you are encountering serious economic problems, difficult and hard times ahead in your life or in business, actually that is the time for you to buy that new car, new wardrobe, new furniture, fittings and furnishings — and even renovate and expand your current house. There is nothing so important in life and in business than keeping and maintaining images and pretences — because if you start to show signs of concerns, anxieties, worries and panic — then the adverse dynamics will take into effect (the domino principle) and the loser overall is you than anybody else for that matter”. At that time we used to think that the old man was bordering senility, outlandish odd behaviour and character — and was losing his faculties and mentality by the other strange and odd behaviour traits and patterns that he used to have.

I remember this part well as a kid at 14 and with my younger brother when we were following around the coconut tree climbers and pickers in our farm in that distant land. We had been set the task by our late father, to count the trees that the men plucked — because they got paid by the number of trees they had covered. The men would climb the coconut trees and whilst at the top (with us at a safe distance away from the cut and now falling coconuts) would shout and call — or sing if you want to call it that — M the son of SN, the always angry man, but with a heart of pure gold and honey, this is the 23rd tree I am climbing — make sure you get the number correct — because in front of God tomorrow you will be accountable for making me lose my rights and true income — do you hear you — son of SN? Then he would sing his love song — of why this particular woman was not interested in him because he was just a poor coconut picker — but one day lady I will be very rich — and you will come to me — and I will be the one to say No to you this time.

When you are at the top of that coconut tree, you can only hope that the woman must have heard your song — at least if not but you had tried. As a child, I was surprised why all the coconut pickers were singing to the same lady, until my slow to catch up mind and comprehension made me realise far later in life that it was a common song — and sung at a top of a coconut tree sounded loud and clear enough! And better too! The point to bring all this story is this. When the man would come down he would say to me — do you know M, son of SN? — This tree I remember well. It used to bear a minimum of 30 to 40 coconuts that we would pick up in the old days, now there are only 10 to 15 at the most. Do you know why? Without waiting for an answer he would go on — it is because God is angry with us men here — because we are doing many bad, wrong and mean things to each other — and God is punishing us by drying up of the trees.

The same tree mind you, he would say as he moves to another tree. And this one I am climbing now has the same story. I know because I have been climbing the same trees since I was your age. Now on that count (and there would always be a difference of 3 to 4 trees, his was more). The poor late father of us — he would take the man’s count — after us getting a good scold and dressing down of not keeping ‘proper accounts’!. Perhaps our poor father knew our figures were right, but it was his way of letting the poor coconut climbers and pickers win — and let them be happy by getting some more!. After all it was just pittance per tree, but the poor people made their living picking these coconut trees.

About a year ago I had gone for holidays to that distant land. I met this old sickly looking old man and he was watching me intently. Then he asked me. Are you not M, son of late SN? I said yes Old Man — I am. Then he would ask me. Do you remember that song I used to sing as I climbed your coconut trees? He would go on — I wanted you to learn about love and life, when you grew up. So you would know human treachery, deception and cheating — and the woman (in the song) who had left me for another man — because I was just a poor coconut picker and climber — and she wanted more than I could give her (in the song again). Meet my family — and he would introduce me to them. Amongst them was a girl (daughter) he simply just had to call her after the woman in the song. He would add — under the breath — I hope she does not do like in the song to another man!

Here was a simple person — who looked at life day by day as it came. He counted his blessings by the number of trees he could climb in his youth and strength — now he could not climb any more trees. With the income from coconut trees climbing, he had sent his son and daughter to University — one was a public official and the other was a banker — and here he was now at his home with no need to climb any more trees to feed his family. His children were now looking after him and his family in his old age. Thanks to God he says — and that good old man who paid me more than the actual trees I actually did climb — but God is Merciful — he would add. Your father was a good and kind man, and your count was actually right!

Here was a simple person. Not worried about how stocks and shares went. What was the price of oil or gold? Or increased food prices. He can now relax — more after he had made the Haj trip that was necessary to be made if one could afford it. And here comes the punch line — he was now the owner of the coconut farm that he used to pick for the previous Arab owner, all bought from the man it was sold to — as the original owner returned with his family back to the country of his birth — and that of his parents and ancestors. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2009.

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You can’t solve all your problems

PROBLEM solving can be a skill that some are born with. Unfortunately, many people have trouble handling problems that come up whether serious issues or daily conflicts. Here are a few tricks to thinking your way through everyday problems and issues. Make sure you understand the problem completely. Get as much information as you can in order to make an informed decision about the problem. If the problem doesn't require a decision it's important you still learn as much as you can.

Talk to people in your support group such as friends, family, co-workers, other parents etc. Try to keep emotions out of it and talk facts. Try to remain as practical and fair as possible. Ask questions and get as many details as possible. Find if there is more than one person involved.

Chances are there are always hidden facts and sometimes knowing all the facts will help the problem solve itself. Don't be rushed into sorting through a problem. Think it through and don't be hasty. People will appreciate your careful thought more than a knee jerk reaction. Take time. You may be rushed to make an immediate decision but it's alright to tell them to give you time to make a decision. Tell them you need to think it through.

Make a list of pros and cons. Be honest and ask for feedback on your list from loved ones and co-workers if needed. Evaluate the list. Take quiet time to ponder the facts. A crazy environment is not the most conducive place to sort through a problem. Take a break, find a quiet place free of distractions and think it through. Consider rules, business practice if it's at work, your long term objectives and really if this is a major problem or a minor hassle. Ask yourself what aspects of the problem you really have control over and can influence.

Understand what is and what isn't within your control. Try to take personal feelings out of the equation and look at the facts at hand. Prioritise your list of pros and cons. Realise when you deal with certain problems not everyone will agree. Make a decision and stick to it. Whether this is how to move forward after a difficult time, a solution to your problem, the road to take to solve a problem, or just your state of mind to deal with an issue.

Do what you think is best at the time and you shouldn't regret your position. Take care of yourself. The most important person in difficult situations is you. Make yourself a list of things that need to change. You can't make all your problems go away, but you can learn from them so that the same things don't continue to happen. Realise that there are a lot of people with far worse problems in life. Put your problems in context and you'll make it through your obstacles and know how lucky you are. Not all problems are for you to sort through.

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Self-service of eGovernment
services through portal

In continuation of last week, let us continue to understand successful eGovernment implementation using electronic communications. This week let us focus on top tips to enhance government presence online.

The direction
His Majesty’s directives to government entities through his Council speech this year stressed on the use of Information and Communication Technologies in the nation’s progress into the third millennium and directed government institutions to enhance their performance and develop e-government services through a national strategy. In implementing his Royal Directives, the workshop aims to build capacity within the government sector in aligning their efforts towards e-government and work together to transform the delivery of public services through digital technologies.

The experts
The UN experts visited Oman to conduct a two-day workshop creating adequate awareness and understanding of internal and external communication in e-government through the use of collaborative and online technologies. The presence of government entities online through website was discussed and the experts shared their knowledge in this topic.

Government portal
Websites of government entities are an important electronic means to reach the common public and businesses, deliver key messages and offer services online. This web presence must be based on a clear vision, focus on target audience and win over their attention. The design of a government website and its information architecture must be based on a clear structure. It can have sub-sites as landing pages which must run on a common look and feel across the entire portal. This can change flavours for different sections of the website for example the department pages of visitor segment pages.

Portal content
This requires careful planning to prepare the content specifically for online readers and must deliver key messages in simple words. There are several possible contents as well as applications that can be offered through a portal. Informative contents include the overview of the government entity, its key vision and mission statements. This also includes administrative structure of the concerned divisions and regional centres along with contact details. Interactive content enables the visitor to communicate two-way with the government organisation through the portal. This enables e-consultancy in governance function.

Service packaging
Most e-government portals are gateways to electronic service delivery points online. For this purpose, these services can be classified either based on the entity delivering the service or based on the alphabetical list of services. Modern navigation systems enable selection of e-services based on a ‘life-event’ model. The visitor chooses his profile, say for example student, employee, visitor, etc and then appropriately the applicable services are listed. This makes it possible for the visitor to avail the e-service without having to know who is delivering or involved in the concerned e-service.

Interactive features
A ‘search site’ tool is a must for every portal. A context sensitive help section along with a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section minimises response delays for most common issues. It is useful to have announcements, events and documents sections for archival and highlight purposes. Latest announcement and forthcoming events can be positioned in a way to capture visitor’s attention while older content can be extracted from an archive.

Electronic forms
Most often government service requests are made using forms. Depending on the level of technical sophistication, these forms can be ‘download-print-fill electronic forms. In advanced stages, online forms serve similar purpose but they can be signed, submitted, verified and auctioned completely online Managing online content requires appropriate tools and technologies and can be used efficiently only if there is a defined process and deployed with adequately trained human resources.

Consulting customers
A website can offer e-consultation with the public to enhance the efficiency of e-government services and improve the online presence. For this a range of tools such as feed backs and surveys can be used. A portal must create a sense of community by offering customised services to market segments for example citizens, residents, visitors and businesses. Depending on their personal profile it would be nice to offer to personalisation features in the portal through ‘My Pages’.

Best practices online
Portals with fresh content that is relevant and accurate have been received very well by the visitors. A unified design with consistent branding feel creates a positive impact about the organisation and in return creates consumer trust. Although ‘content is king’, the navigation structure is paramount in making the content accessible and hence useful. For this a consistent navigation system must be worked out and delivered in a simplistic manner. Broken web links and ‘under construction links’ must be completely avoided. If possible a 24/7 support service contact will increase trust in the quality of e-services.

Secure access and adequate privacy assurance methods must be implemented wherever required. The design of a website certainly requires constant improvement and the use of detailed traffic analysis tool helps the web team in this. Understanding the role of a portal, offering appropriate tools to access information and offer interaction, derive return on investment of the portal. Using the above recommendations as guidelines, each government entity can improve usage, enable productivity enhancements and supports business goals eliminating manual workloads.

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Will there ever be Peace?

“MY twins, who were 15, were kidnapped but thanks to God, the kidnapper released them when he spotted a police checkpoint on their way. A week later, my husband was kidnapped and we fled for my children’s safety. My husband has yet to be found..,” recalls Asif, a mother of five children and once a pharmacist in Iraq. An interpreter translates for her.

“In 2004, we began receiving letters threatening us with death and physical harm if we didn’t leave. Then my gold store was destroyed and it was impossible to work or feel safe. I gathered whatever was left from my store and fled to Syria. There, none of the Iraqis were allowed to work. There was no job. We were dying a slow death,” says Taleb, an Iraqi Christian, also via a translator.

“My mother gave birth to my little brother under a tree, with the sound of bombs and machine guns blasting, and through it all my brothers and sisters who were small children were crying for her attention,” shudders Wheaton resident Bisharo Amir, 17. Originally from Somalia, she arrived here from Kenya three years ago.

These are the stories of our neighbours in Chicago and the suburbs of Aurora, Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, Carol Stream and more recently Glendale Heights. They maybe from different parts of the war-torn world — Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq and Myanmar — but they all have one thing in common.

They are all refugees, and have escaped war and imminent violent death. While Syria and Jordan accepted 1.5 million and 750,000 Iraqis respectively, the US accepted a few hundred from 2003-2007. In 2008, the limit on Iraqi refugees was increased to 12,000, making them amongst the most recent arrivals to the US. Resettlement agencies continue to advocate raising that number.

“There are 5.1 million displaced Iraqis inside and outside Iraq, not to mention all those who were murdered,” says Noah Miller who works with US-based Middle East Cultural and Charitable Society, as director of the project’s Direct Aid Initiative (www.directaidiraq.org), and with its news and analysis website Electronic Iraq (http://www.electroniciraq.net/). “To put it in perspective, twice the entire population of Chicago, or one in five Iraqis, have been displaced,” he says. “The war makes it to the newspapers, but like poverty, displacement is noticed only by those who experience it.”

Instances where refugee resettlement has been most successful, he elaborates, is where there has been involvement from the local community, churches, mosques and individual volunteers. “All the resettlement agencies have ways in which the local community can be involved. One person can’t solve the whole crisis but you can impact the situation of one family at least,” says Noah. Volunteers, though, should be prepared to be patient and involved for a long time if they want to make a difference.

Suzanne Elger, of Glen Ellyn, would agree. Parents and school staff at Lincoln Elementary spearheaded the creation of a programme called Community Outreach four years ago, to meet the needs of its refugee and needy children. A list of volunteers provide everything from breakfast snacks to school supplies, backpacks, socks and underwear on an as-needed basis.

Within a year, the initiative had been rolled out to the other three elementary schools in that district, each school rotating their role as “brother’s-keepers” for two months of the academic year. Elger, this year, chairs Community Outreach at Lincoln Elementary. “My son Joey even brags about it. He takes pride in the fact that we help out,” laughs Elger.

In their early days here, African refugees settled in Glen Ellyn would walk to school at dawn in the biting cold, wearing slippers, their mothers clad in thin, traditional, cotton clothing. Helping them assimilate and adjust meant that social workers at Lincoln Elementary visited their homes and even drew pictures of clocks to show the children when it was time to come to school.

In contrast, the Iraqi refugees are primarily well-educated with Masters and PhDs and have urban, middle class backgrounds. Until they master English, and have their credentials evaluated, they are restricted to jobs that the resettlement agencies are primarily aware of — jobs for unskilled workers, often paying minimum wage.

Local parents here are known to carpool the refugee children to park district programming and school events and really get to know them. “When Joey was in third grade he had an African refugee child, AbdiKhadir, who was his friend and came home on play dates. Joey was really, really upset when AbdiKhadir moved out-of-state,” she says.

Marilyn Duszynski, is also of Glen Ellyn, and volunteers nine hours a day, on average, with either the refugee children or their parents. “They looked at a man on stilts, ate cotton candy and were so excited to have their own plate of food,” says Marilyn Duszynski, 56, of a summer outing she took the refugee children on.

“I listen to their wishes, dreams, fears, what’s going on in their lives and I know I have the best time of all.” But, she says, she also insists on personal responsibility. “In the beginning it’s all about feeling these are poor souls and you want to help them. I came to see they were relying on people too much and that wasn’t good for them.”

Her years of volunteering with the refugees, have put her in a position to advise the resettlement agencies on a thing or two. “I’d prefer if the organisations that bring them to these communities, prepare the communities before time. Not just suddenly drop them off,” says Duszynski.

Faith groups, too, have risen to the call. Over the past two years, Faith Lutheran Church in Glen Ellyn has became the venue for an inter-faith ESL programme, with both Muslim and Christian tutors for their Muslim and Christian refugee students. Helping Hands Inc of Love Christian Clearing House in Wheaton created English Conversation groups in the refugee women’s homes.

The Islamic Foundation Mosque in Villa Park created a group called Refugee Assistance Programmes while this past September, in the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan, 50 Muslim girls between the ages of eight and 12 who are members of the ‘Girls Club’ and their mothers at the Islamic Centre of Naperville, took on a project to bring 50 laundry baskets of food and personal care products to Myanmarese and Iraqi families.

“I think for our children in particular, who are growing up with so much comfort, this was intriguing at the very least....seeing very basic items being put together in the form of gifts,” says one of the organisers who asked not to be named. “Even though we realise there are people in need in our communities, personal contact with them brings their reality, and all its contrasts with our lives, into focus.”

Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA Relief) helped them distribute the baskets as far as Chicago. “After the first two or three homes, it was hard to fight tears as we realised that we needed to do so much more,” she says. This Thanksgiving St Petronille’s Church in Glen Ellyn will be giving Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets to ten refugee families. Like area mosques, St Petronille Church and St Paul Lutheran in Wheaton have also helped with rent assistance, driving lessons and car donations.

Several Chicago schools with ethnically diverse populations enlist the help of Changing Worlds (www.changingworlds.org), a Chicago non-profit, that reaches 10,000 children each year. “Students have the opportunity to hear their stories, to write and create art that narrates their histories, their experiences coming to America and living here. For some refugees it’s very painful to talk about their lives and we don’t force them. For others it’s very helpful. They want to tell their stories and they have an opportunity,” says Kay Berkson, Changing Worlds’ Founder.

“One of our exhibits is a collection of stories and photos of people who are immigrants now living in Chicago and many of these are refugees. For refugees, it’s an opportunity to see stories like their own. For others, it helps provide a better understanding of who a refugee is and conveys that all our voices are important,” adds Berkson.

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