My family was more geographically diverse than any group I had ever been a part of, and I was constantly amazed at how the country in which a family member lived enabled them to raise a perspective completely alien to me. In breakout discussions, I was constantly reminded of just how incomplete my worldview was. What made my family so special was that we developed a group understanding of every individual’s restricted perspectives, and recognized the beautiful and complete mosaic of intellects we could create through collaborative dialogue. The resulting intellectual depth is something I will hold onto for a lifetime, and I am so thankful to have been pushed out of my comfort zone by such a constructive and supportive group of friends.
For about 6 years, I’ve been honored to be a a part of the Project Turquoise Youth Committee, a group of dedicated high-school age students in the D.C. area working to raise funding and awareness to support refugee communities both locally and abroad. As part of the Youth Committee, I have participated in many impactful events and campaigns, among which are two service trips to Jordan and Lebanon, raising scholarship funding for four Syrian refugees, and appearing in panel discussions and promotional videos to support multi-national NGOs. In March of 2019, I was unanimously elected to be the Chair of the Youth Committee.
This past October, I had the honor of being invited to speak at a fundraising event for Project Turquoise, the Youth Committee’s parent organization. I, along with my co-chair, prepared a presentation to highlight the Youth Committee’s recent work and what we are planning to do next. While speaking in front of a large group of adults was nerve-racking, our segment went very smoothly, and PT’s co-founder told us that she even heard a few sniffles as we shared our heartbreaking and uplifting experiences with the refugees who we have come to know as friends. I was grateful to play a role in what was a very successful night of fundraising for our scholarship fund. In the coming months, the Youth Committee is hoping to organize a poetry night for local refugee poets, in which they can share their brilliant work and raise awareness about the plight of refugees through the medium of art. Refugees are often cast by the media as desperate, hopeless people, and the Youth Committee feels that elevating powerful and inspiring refugee voices is an incredibly effective way of combating this narrative. As Chair, my primary obligations include reaching out to and coordinating with the poets, and while this project is still in its very early stages, I’m looking forward to watching it all come together