RadioActive: Refugee Stories are Our Stories
Written by Megan Carson
One of the co-founders of Their Story Is Our Story, Melissa Dalton-Bradford, was recently in Utah to receive a much-deserved award and recognition for her Service to Family from her alma mater, Brigham Young University.
While in town for the events surrounding that, she filled her schedule to the maximum humanly possible with events to spread the stories of our refugee friends and promote the recently released book of their stories, Let Me Tell You My Story.
Among the events that Melissa participated in, she was interviewed on the radio show Radio Active with Executive Producer/Host Lara Jones.
Here's just one quote from that interview:
"How am I going to answer the upcoming generation? How am I going to leave some sort of small legacy so I could say, 'I could not do everything, I'm sorry that I couldn't do everything, but could I do something? Could I do something, just one small thing?' It's an accumulation of all of these one small things, that literally do shift history."
Now, go and listen to the whole thing: Radio Active Interview with Melissa Dalton-Bradford. You can find it at 17:40 through 45:20. Absolutely worth the time to listen to!
Slam the Islamophobia
The Emerald Project is a Utah-based organization that carefully designs dialogues to engage with non-Muslims to make Salt Lake Valley a more welcoming home to Muslims. As many of our refugee friends belong to the Muslim faith, we applaud opportunities that foster understanding and were pleased to support The Emerald Project’s 3rd annual “Slam the Islamophobia” event on February 15th.
Invisible Barriers and Battles: The Mental Health Impact on Refugees
Refugees often risk their lives crossing deserts, jungles, and oceans all in the search for shelter, freedom, or happiness. Yet, even once they’ve reached physical safety, mental mountains emerge that make daily life an uphill climb. At the November 2022 conference for the Utah Chapter of the Society for Public Health Education (USOPHE), presenters Shurooq Al Jewari and Sasha Sloan discussed mental health and inclusion, focusing on immigrants and refugees.
Reclaiming Lost Traditions
Holidays are an important time to include newcomers. Newcomers are often aching for the traditions and holiday magic they knew at home - and the connections with family and friends. The Garcias* came from a strong family and community that knew generous and giving holiday traditions. I knew, when I met our new friends from Venezuela, the rich bond we would have; this was a kindred spirit family. Even though we have been bad at communicating (Google Translate is such a false hope), it was easy to find connections that helped us love each other.