tgrtranslation

Has a stranger ever brought unexpected happiness into your life? A “career girl” who had worked in the capital, I had moved to a new town where everyone seemed to have married and settled down early. So one Saturday night in midwinter, I found myself alone, trying to learn guitar.

Skimming LinkedIn on a break, a connect request popped up next to a picture of clean-shaven South Asian man in a message. “I am the headmaster of a school in a refugee camp,” it said. It’s easy to turn down requests for money, but ignoring the existence of someone in that situation seemed wrong. As it turned out, the choice to “accept” led to new friends all over the world.

Siddique, (that’s the Headmaster’s name), and I convinced a professor at the University of Tennessee (Lucien Ellington) to publish Siddique’s story for the Fall 2023 edition of Education About Asia. His work helping students prepare for a future is ongoing. The refugee-created blog about the school, Life Destination School, offers glimpses into the struggles of people who may sometimes lack basic amenities, but not the will to find humor, hope, and solidarity.

Today is the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. It is also World Refugee Day, June 20th, 2025. Please keep all “stateless” refugees in your thoughts.