Vickie visits the Inveralmond Community Highschool to talk about refugees with the S2s. The following blog reflects some of the thoughts from the pupils who learned about teenage refugee Javed as part of the State of Emergency Project.
Horrified about what he had to go through
This week we’ve been doing State of Emergency. On the 15 November we went into the assembly hall and Vickie Beesley from Scottish refugee Council came to speak to us. Vickie read all the S2s a story about a little boy called Javed who was a refugee.
As she read the story about Javed, I sat in my chair feeling extremely horrified about what this little boy had to go through. One thing that I can particularly remember about the story was that Javed had to sleep in a cramped van with four men he had never met in his life, for over two weeks. He had to live in this van without any food, water and hardly got any sleep. He must be absolutely traumatised.
I felt so guilty to think about ‘look at everything I have and they have pretty much nothing’, and many of them don’t even live with their parents. I’m so grateful for everything I have but at the same time I feel that it’s such a shame on what they and their family have been put through just to stay simply alive.
Shocked by the suffering and struggle people face
Dear Vickie,
Thank you for going to our school it was a very interesting and exiting experience I found it especially interesting that a lot of the thing we use today were made by refugees.
The story of Javed was very interesting and cool and I still can’t believe that so many face that type of suffering and struggle. I was very shocked at amount of time Javed was hiding in the back of the lorry. I really hope things get better for Javed and other refugees who face things like this.
Overall the experience was very fun and exiting. And my favourite part of it all was the questions in the middle of the story.
Christopher Ryles
What I learned during State of Emergency
During the State of Emergency week we have learned lots about survival and refugees.
On the 15 November we were visited in English class by a volunteer from Scottish Refugee Council called Vickie Beesley. She told the story of a young refugee called Javed to all the second years.
Javed was a sixteen year old boy who had three choices – he could either head to get a normal job and be killed by the army, go to war and end up being killed or to flee Afghanistan altogether.
He packed his bags and left Afghanistan he crossed most of the borders in Europe smuggled in the back of a van in terrible conditions. He ended up in Glasgow; he had experienced a traumatic time in the van that mostly all refugees go through.
Scottish Refugee Council helps refugees start a new life and ensures that they are safe. Learning about Javed made me feel very grateful that I don’t have to flee my country and face those problems, on the other hand I feel sorry for them because no one should have to go through what they go through.
Bethany Nelson
Learning about refugees
On Monday to Thursday I learned about refugees. A refugee is someone that came to our country because they were in danger in their own country. There is also Refugee camps for refugees to stay in. Refugee camps can hold lots of people in a small area which is usually cramped and dirty.
Vickie from Scottish Refugee Council came to our school and told us a story about a boy called Javed who was smuggled from Afghanistan to Scotland and then became a Refugee.
The story showed us that becoming a Refugee isn’t the easiest of things. We also learned that a few well known people are Refugee’s like Bob Marley. While learning about Refugees I have learned a lot of interesting facts that I will remember for a very long time. The most fascinating thing I have learned during the week is about the Refugee camps and that they are so dirty and cramped.
I loved the debate against the Government and the Freedom Brigade as their arguments were very good and they knew a lot about the situation.
Javed’s story made me feel lucky to be safe and have a place to call home
This week at my school all of the second year pupils took part in state of emergency. In every class, we have been doing fun and though provoking activities that put us in different situations relating to state of emergency.
On Tuesday 14 November, a woman from the Scottish Refugee Council named Vickie Beesley came to our school to talk to us all about refugees and how they live. She told us a story about a young man named Javed. He lived in Afghanistan and had to flee the country after his father and two older brothers were murdered by the warlord in charge of his country. His mother advised him to leave Afghanistan when he was asked to join the army, this must have been a hard choice to make.
His journey was long and tiring and eventually, after over two weeks, he finally made it. He was left at a service station in Glasgow, completely unaware of his surroundings. If it wasn’t for people like Vickie at the refugee council, Javed would have probably been sent back Afghanistan. Now he can live without the fear of being killed or hurt and he can feel safe and at home. This story made me feel lucky that I have a family and a safe place to call home.
Gemma Carral
Learning interesting facts about refugees
During our State of Emergency week day 2, we had a rather interesting English class where all S2’s went into the assembly and Vicky Beesely came in and told us a story about a young boy called Javed. She also told us loads of cool information about refugees. All together in her visit we all inherited lots of new information.
Half way through her visit she stopped and read us a list of a few familiar famous people, and asked us all what they all had in common, no one at first knew what the answer was but then it turned out to be that they were all refugees at one point or another in their lives. Javed’s story read by Vickie Beesely was very interesting, and Vickie’s narrating made it even better because you couldn’t even hear a pin drop in the hall. Special thanks to Vickie for coming in and teaching us all about refugees.
Jessica Scott
