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Health & Fitness

World Refugee Day: Reflections on the Meaning on Community

June 20 is World Refugee Day. I wrote this reflection after spending spring semester at Aurora University researching Aurora's refugee community for my senior project.

La Grange, IL might not have a large refugee community, but (somewhat) neighboring city, Aurora, does. I wrote this reflection after spending spring semester researching Aurora's refugee community for my senior project. 

I thought it would be worth revisiting on World Refugee Day.

com·mu·ni·ty/kəˈmyo͞onitē/

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Noun:
  1. A group of people living together in one place, esp. one practicing common ownership: “a community of nuns”.
  2. All the people living in a particular area or place: “local communities”

I learned a lot in my quest to understand Aurora’s refugee community, but the biggest thing I learned is that nobody really wants to talk about it.

I set out at the beginning of the semester with a goal: to get the perspective of city officials, local teachers, community members and Aurora University students.

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Many people were responsive and helpful, but many treated this topic like refugees were the pink elephant in the corner, or however the saying goes.

Refugees are like race, sex and other controversial topics – overtaken by the desire for political correctness.

I encountered one Aurora city official who views refugees as an integral part of the community. More city officials may feel the same way, but I will never know because outside of chief community services officer, Dan Barreiro, everyone else either didn’t respond or pushed me off on World Relief.

“In regards to the view of the refugee impact on the community, I feel that it adds to the fabric of the community. Aurora has a long history of immigrant groups settling here. Each group has their story as to why they came. Some of these ethnic churches and social clubs still stand. The refugees are a part of this on-going development of Aurora. Immigrants and descendants of immigrants have made huge contributions to the development Aurora. They have built businesses and have given back to the community,” said Barriero.

From my interviews, I know that local churches, schools and aid organizations view the refugee community in a positive light. I know that many AU students know little about the topic and that some, like Loren Bumbalough, learned to love refugees.

The fact remains that the refugee community exists though out west Aurora in pockets. It is easy to miss or misunderstand this community if you aren’t looking.

In my interview with Casey Barrette of World Relief, she told me it was easier to resettle refugees in the same apartment complexes, the same neighborhoods. This way, they can form their own supportive communities.

I couldn’t help but wonder if this keeps them ostracized from the larger community, many of whom seem willing to be involved, if only they knew more.

I asked everyone I talked to the same question: how does Aurora perceive the refugee community?

Everyone gave the same answer. The city itself is not directly involved. Leave it to World Relief, schools, churches. What does the city have to do with it?

After speaking with World Relief, schools and churches, I think the city has a lot to do with it. We may not know what that looks like, but we have to be willing to find out. 

Otherwise this church, this school, this organization will continue to teach refugees English, pick them up from the airport, comfort them as they relive traumatic events on their own, with no support.

The larger community of Aurora is composed of these smaller communities, but maybe we would have more success if we worked together.

We are, after all, a community.

Check out how the twin cities celebrate their refugee community. 

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