Navigate the site: 1. Intro … 2. Learn … 3. Plan … 4. Reflect … 5. Advocate
This website will enable a CRS Ambassador chapter or a social justice class or group to create a simulation to educate participants about refugee movements in many parts of the world, with a focus on Syria. In a 20-30-minute interaction, participants experience:
- who refugees are and the experiences that drive them from their homes;
- reenactments of potential options that face refugees as they flee;
- simulations of life outside their home country;
- reflection, through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching, of what it means to be a refugee and what our response might be;
- opportunities to engage in advocacy.
We fully realize it is impossible for us to comprehend the reality these refugees face. However, we feel the need to engage participants in what hundreds of thousands of people must undergo. And so we created a simulation to give a small sense of their reality.
The four headings (LEARN, PLAN, REFLECT, ADVOCATE) will give essential background on the issue, instructions on how to set up the simulation, and resources for reflection, prayer, and advocacy.
Background
This simulation of the journey of Syrian refugees, “We Did Nothing Wrong,” was first developed as a project in social justice course at Cabrini University. At the time, Syrian people had been suffering from a number of years of a brutal civil war that produced millions of refugees.
The Cabrini students first presented the simulation in a public setting on Cabrini Day. The topic was (and is) a raw topic in the US and around the world. The students were learning about the experience of refugees during the presidential election campaign in which a Muslim refugee ban was widely proposed. So when Cabrini Day arrived, the students knew their simulation was significant. Cabrini Day is a mission-focused opportunity for campus-wide education. St. Frances Cabrini, after whom Cabrini University is named, is the patron saint of migrants, so it is especially appropriate that this simulation was conceived at a university named after her.
Some members of the class joined the CRS Ambassador program and collaborated with their fellow Ambassadors to expand the program to the one you see here. We hope that the simulation will be used by other campuses and groups. Feel free to modify to fit your circumstances.
Many students worked to develop the simulation. Those who worked to develop this website are Michelle Guerin, Sydney Lynch, and Ariana Yamasaki. Emily Janny, president of CRS Ambassadors, was their classroom coach.
