Free Verse Poem On Refugees

  I decided to use this image to represent the stories of the refugees.  The eyes show all the stories and feelings from people’s lives.  The refugees would have seen so many awful things and I wanted to use the eyes to make that connection.  Eyes reveal and show so much about us that we try to hide.  A person can smile but yet their eyes tell a different story, and in the videos that I watched, this was usually the case.  The mouths of the refugees smiled, but their eyes showed pain, worry, horror and tension. I hope I was able to capture the refugees experience well.

   Scars

Terror, Death, Pain.

Blink.

War, Broken, Heartache.

Blink.

Hope, Betrayal, Truth.

Blink

Look away.

People Shattered Destroyed.

Blink.

Stories burned in minds.

Blink.

Life is all but gone.

Blink.

Crying screaming.

Blink.

Look away.

Help!

Blink.

Save us.

Blink.

Staring walking past.

Blink

Hated for our scars.

Blink.

 Look away.

Our scars are Piercing.

Blink.

Our stares are holding.

Blink.

We don’t dare to hope.

Blink

Our eyes are only broken.

Blink.

I cant look away.

A Long Walk To Water Book Review

The book “A Long Walk To Water,” was an interesting story of love and hope. There were many interesting points and facts. I would definitely read this novel again. There were, however, some negative aspects. A big problem is that this novel wasn’t very gripping. The author wrote it in a way that doesn’t draw you in to connect with the characters. Beyond that, this novel was fun and fascinating. 

     The main characters Nya and Salva were fairly well developed and displayed an impressive amount of hope. For example, Slava kept his hope even though he lost people close to him and everything in his life went wrong. The character Nya hoped very strongly that the men would find water even though everyone thought they wouldn’t. Both of these characters trusted when there was no hope and used their hope to inspire others.

     The major world issues this novel portrays are Lost Boys and Dirty Water. Both of these are very huge issues that don’t get enough attention. 11-year-old Nya has to walk all day back and forth to get water. The water she obtains is dirty but she has no choice. Salva is a wanderer (Lost Boy) and even though he becomes part of groups he always ends up alone. Many of the lost boys ended up alone and died. Many people in Nya’s village get sick because of the dirty water but it is all they have.

     The main theme in this novel is war. There were many smaller themes that all tie back to the theme of war. Salva’s life is hard and broken because of the war that has stripped everything away from him. Nya and her tribe always live in fear because of the war. They are all permanently scarred, hurt and broken.

     The novel was an informative playful novel that left me satisfied. The novel had a variety of scenes, some light and happy, and others, sad. The ending was very satisfying and complete.  I learned a lot about the issues talked about. The best part about this novel is the places it will take you. You are left feeling like you are in Sudan living amidst these challenging conditions. I would give this novel 7.5 out of 10 and recommend this book for anyone who wants to have their eyes opened to the problems going on around our world.

Syrian War Crisis

I am sure that at least one point in your life you have heard about the war going on in Syria. The thing is,  what is going on is so much more serious than many people realize.  More than 500,000 people have died since the war began and thousands have lost their homes. When I was about 8 or 9 I did a project on Syria that changed my life forever. I heard of children that are so scarred that they cant talk or think and they just stare straight ahead endlessly. I heard of peoples lives getting ended by being shot for fun, by being bombed. Another merciless thing I heard about is called a barrel bomb. A barrel bomb is a barrel that has different compartments and each has a worse item in it. The enemy puts in dynamite, explosive fuel and sharp shard of meatal. When the bomb is dropped it hits the ground in a massive explosion. The shard of metal fly everywhere and leave lasting scars. Many people say they understand what they go through even though they hate the fact that Syrian refugees keep coming over. It makes no sense to me why people can't open their eyes and see what is going on and act on it. The thing I hate the most though is what sin has turned the world into. We now live in a place where people enjoy killing and lying. A world where people turn their backs away from other human beings. It is not our job as Christians to fix the world but to help God fix the people.