The below is from emmanueljal.com for World Refugee Day, which took place last Sunday 20th June.

“We cannot walk alone…”
This famous quote by Martin Luther King is the theme for Refugee Week 2021 and today, June the 20th is World Refugee Day.

No man can climb a mountain by themselves and the biggest threat to every human being is the feeling of being alone. You have all probably felt like this at some point in your life because when you are disconnected, you begin to fade away.

But what does this mean in the context of being a refugee? And why are we saying we cannot walk alone? As I ask myself this, I have reflected on how this message has echoed in my own life.

Imagine you are with your family – your brothers and sisters, right where you are today, something happens and everyone runs in different directions! The first time I became a refugee I thought the world was ending. I said “this is it…” people are scattering everywhere. When we lost our first home town – how were we able to reconnect with one another? You see kids travelling alone – you are gathering in a different place and with complete strangers. There were no phone calls at that time and for years I was separated from my close relatives.

I then look back on the friendships and relationships I had to forge when I was recruited as a child soldier – and the motto that we were our ‘brother’s keeper’. After that I was lucky to have the support of Emma McCune, the British Aid worker, who helped me to escape as she smuggled me to Kenya on a plane, put me in school and gave me a space to heal. But when she died I was alone again and I was forced to pick myself up and keep going. The only thing that helped me through these traumatic times was the relief I found in helping others, that energy inspired me to push forward and continue on my journey.

Gua Africa the charity I founded has made me who I am today. It has made me grow and become more conscious – it has helped me. I had that simple desire as a child – I wanted to be part of a solution and when you have that in your heart, it drives you. My friend and I had an idea to knock at people’s houses to wash their cars, to help put my friends in school and that’s how we started the charity.

As we commemorate this important day, I can announce that with an amazing grant from Choose Love, Gua Africa has now partnered with the community at Kakuma Refugee Camp to create The Gatwitch Club. The community will select around 18 young people (between the ages of 13 – 16 years) who have lost their parents during the civil war in South Sudan and are now living as orphans in Kakuma. Our aim is to create a a safe space where they can attend their nearby day school and learn to be leaders. They will learn how to convert their pain into a robust energy and use compassion as a way to heal their environment.

In addition to this special place we will nurture the group through extra activities to enhance their school learning; this will include leadership sessions run by myself and extra educational support from local teachers in Reading, Maths, Science, Financial Literacy, IT and Wellness.

Alongside the hub there will be a local shop where the youth group and their adult leaders can start a business so that the future of the project can be subsidised through their profits.

We are excited to be part of this new initiative and already have the support of various sponsors, individuals and schools who are helping to walk with us. Thank you to everyone who has helped to make this happen and if you would like to support please visit: https://www.gua-africa.org/donate/

Please check out some of the other individuals, projects and businesses below which have inspired me this week, as well as some of the talks and educational work my sister Nyaruach and I have been conducting to highlight the valuable contribution refugees make all over the world.

Peace is you,

Jal