Meet some of the refugees helping their neighbors through the pandemic.
It's like a circle. I help somebody and somebody helps me.
“I want to say that we should all stay at home and stay hopeful," says Rania Abou.
Photo: Andrew Oberstandt/IRC
Rania
Refugee. Food Distributor. Front-line Worker.
Nineteen-year-old Rania Abou is from Damascus, Syria. She came to Roselle, N.J. as a refugee, with her father and brothers, less than a year ago. (Rania's mother passed away several years earlier while the family was living in Egypt.) Today, she works as a food distributor with the International Rescue Committee and World Central Kitchen in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
An artist, Rania dreams of putting her drawing skills to work as an engineer. When the coronavirus put those plans on hold, she jumped at the chance to help her community.
“When people who need the food come, we give the food to all without asking them their name or ID or anything like that. We just ask them how many people in their family and give them the food.
“When I see the kids smiling, I feel happy. And that's given me hope.
“I want to say that we should all stay at home and stay hopeful. And if we can help others, we should help others … if I can help, I should help. In the future, somebody will help me. It's like a circle. I will somebody and somebody helps me.
“I think if my mom [was] alive, she [would] be proud of me.”
There’s nothing small during the coronavirus. Everything is important. Everything that is positive is important.
“My greatest strength is the youth that I interact with,” says Jean Marie Ishimwe.
Photo: Nyasha Kadandara/IRC
Jean Marie
Refugee. Youth Advocate. Community Leader.
Twenty-three-year-old Jean Marie Ishimwe is well acquainted with the struggles of refugees in Nairobi, Kenya. A refugee himself from Rwanda, he co-founded a group to teach digital skills to refugee youth and co-chairs a youth empowerment organization. Today, he is using his coordination and motivational skills to mobilize young people to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My greatest strength is the youth that I interact with,” he says. “They give me strength to continue.”
Knowing that both refugees and locals would struggle during the pandemic, Jean Marie organized youth to raise money and put together food packages to sustain a family for two to three days. The group adds masks to the packages and spends time educating recipients about COVID-19.
“I am not infected, but I am affected,” Jean Marie says, pointing out that the pandemic has touched all aspects of life and requires action from all of us.
“We have to try to commit ourselves to helping our communities in any way possible. There’s nothing small during the coronavirus. Everything is important. Everything that is positive is important.”
When I see our clients thrive, it motivates me to do the best that I can do.
“Whether it is a client opening a business or getting their citizenship, I remind them: It was really hard in the beginning, but look where you are right now," says Meheria Habibi.
Photo: Curtesy of Meheria Habibi
Meheria
Refugee. IRC staff. Mentor.
Meheria Habibi is a senior program manager in the IRC’s Tucson, Ariz., office and a refugee from Afghanistan. For nearly 20 years, she has worked for the IRC helping refugee families like her own thrive in the United States.
“My work has completely changed during the pandemic,” she says. Meheria oversees most of the IRC’s direct services in Tucson and many of her clients are struggling because of the coronavirus. Meheria spends her days supporting staff to help clients access basic needs, sometimes even delivering food to a family’s door herself.
Meheria is well aware of the emotional toll the pandemic takes on her clients. “This is traumatic, especially for people who have gone through our experiences,” she says. “For me, when the coronavirus pandemic happened, it brought back a lot of memories of war. I was in Afghanistan as a child. That fear of going through that again, that fear of not being safe or being able to provide safety for your family members, is something I think about all the time.”
Despite the challenges, Meheria takes inspiration from her clients’ accomplishments. “Whether it is a client opening a business or getting their citizenship, I remind them: It was really hard in the beginning, but look where you are right now. When I see our clients thrive, it motivates me to do the best that I can do.
“There is so much going on right now that it could be discouraging. It could bring a sense of hopelessness, but I want refugees to know that there are so many people in this world that really care about them.”
Rohingya people help others as much as possible. They take care of each other, they stay together.
“People are living in fear. We teach them how to stay safe from the coronavirus: that people must wash their hands, avoid crowded places and go to the hospital if they get sick," says Yasmin Ara.
Photo: Maruf Hasan/IRC
Yasmin
Refugee. Community Volunteer. Refugee Advocate.
Twenty-one-year-old Yasmin Ara is a Rohingya refugee from Myanmar living in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, the world’s largest refugee camp. In May, the first case of the coronavirus was reported in the camp.
As a community volunteer for the IRC, Yasmin has been going door-to-door to raise awareness about protection from the virus “The camp is a very crowded place and there isn’t enough soap,” she explains. “There’s no electricity, so we can’t take baths properly. We’re in a very risky situation, living like chickens in a cage. It’s very tense—but we have to control our fear … we have to be brave.
“People are living in fear. We teach them how to stay safe from the coronavirus: that people must wash their hands, avoid crowded places and go to the hospital if they get sick.”
The challenges are great, but Yasmin remains hopeful. “Rohingya people help others as much as possible. They take care of each other, they stay together.”
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