Paper timelines fan out across the floor, filled with pictures of the universe and human culture. They’re all supposed to show moments between the Big Bang and now in chronological order, but all of them vary.
Around these pieces of paper stand groups of Tibetan monks debating and defending the timelines they’ve arranged. To an outsider who doesn’t speak Tibetan, the energy in the room would be overwhelming. The monks are shouting and shoving, but if you look closely, you can see the smiles on their faces and hear the laughter amidst the arguing.
Ray Umashankar isn’t in the habit of taking “no” for an answer. After having a total hip replacement surgery nearly 10 years ago, he was told that in the best-case scenario, he’d walk with a cane for the rest of his life.
A little more than a year after the surgery, Umashankar and his wife hiked the Grand Canyon.
Though many Tucsonans aren’t aware, Tucson has one of the largest populations of resettled refugees in the United States. Nearly 62,000 refugees have relocated to Tucson in the last 10 years.
This map shows the the 8 countries where most of Arizona’s refugees are from.
Though they face many obstacles when adjusting to life in a new country, many refugees have said that one of the hardest things to deal with in their move was the language barrier. The issue, however, is more complex than simply not being able to speak English.
Abdullahi Omar is a refugee from Somali. Though he knew English when his family moved to the United States, he still says there were colloquialisms and other aspects of the language that he didn’t understand.
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Bushra is a refugee from Iraq. Though she did live in other countries such as Jordan before moving to the United States, the resettling was still a challenge. She said its important for refugees to go out into the community to learn the language. One of the reasons she thinks its easier for young people to learn English is because they have to go to school, they have to spend time immersed in the language. However, that doesn’t come without it’s problems. Here she talks about her son’s struggles in a school that didn’t offer ESL classes.
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Sareos Gedi is a refugee from Somalia. She came to the United States with her husband and two children, leaving behind three children and her mother in Africa. She came to the states with no knowledge of English. After just a few weeks, she had to go to the hospital and deal with medical problems, all while not being sure what was going on because of her limited English. But through hard work and dedication she learned the language and is now a US citizen.
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However, there are many organizations willing to help refugees. Ishkashitaa Refugee Network and the Arizona Language and Transportation Services are two organization that ESL teacher Grace Green works with. These organizations not only offer ESL classes and translator services, but Ishkashitaa helps provide refugees with jobs through their fruit gleaning program and ALTS transports refugees to important appointments.
At the University of Arizona, Professor Cindi Gilliland created the Arizona Resource Connection. This club gives students the opportunity to put their business skills to use while helping refugees find jobs and raising money to fund projects both in Tucson and outside the country.
Kayla Samoy 