Our Rohingya podcast centers around interviews with teachers, activists, and members of the Rohingya community.
Context: Future Outlook for Rohingya Community
Oftentimes, we hear and believe that education is the key to success, but unfortunately, we don’t understand the complexity of the situation at hand. For a community of refugees, many who have never spoken or interacted with English prior to their arrival in the United States, it becomes nearly impossible to make a living. The Rohingya community has made it possible and has made ends meet by taking up jobs that don’t necessarily involve English. The children of the community struggle with a new language, but their outlook on life in America is positive; some even prefer this life over the one they lived back home.
Andrew and Irfan discuss the future life of the Rohingya in America regarding jobs, careers, housing, and citizenship. To attain citizenship in English not knowing how even to speak it is a struggle of its own. While you listen to the episode, consider how many benefits of living in America are taken lightly because we haven’t experienced a world where there’s a restriction on our simple freedoms. Also, try to envision why some Rohingya members would want to live here and why others would like to return home.
Context: The Struggle Prior to America
It is with no doubt that moving to another country comes with many challenges including but not limited to: culture change, language barriers, employment opportunities, and many more. There is no doubt, however, that there were countless challenges prior to the Rohingya’s arrival in America. Just being able to come to a first-world country such as America itself for a chance at a better life, involves a lengthy process that is limited to a very few people. Andrew has been working with the community for a couple of years now. He has helped the community survive and overcome many barriers. He also discusses his vision for the community and the projects he supports and would like to see them being carried out.
In this episode, Irfan talks about how exactly he was able to attain entry to the United States and the struggles he had to go through. This is just the story of one person. Every Rohingya member has their own struggles and stories. As you listen to the episode, visualize what other challenges the Rohingya community had to overcome just to come to America. Some people even risk their entire lives for merely a chance at a life in America; think about the consequences of such risks taken by the Rohingya members.
Some of our longer podcasts can be found on our Spotify page.
