I heard for the first time that today is the World Refugee Day, June 20th. August 2018 will mark 32 years of me living in America who came here as a refugee after southern Vietnam fell into the Communist regime in the April of 1975. Millions of Vietnamese left the country through many drastic means. Some made it safely in freedom countries while others died trying. 😢 A life of a refugee is a very difficult life. As a stateless person at one point, I was very much lost among the stormy weather. I didn’t know what my fate would be like. Lost and confusion was my constant state of mind. It took me over a decade to adapt to the new culture in America. It was a big challenge for me to learn a new language when my heart was yearning to be reunited with my loved ones. No word can fully describe how homesick I was for the many years! Why did I escape my country to find myself in such misery? I did it out of despair because I didn’t see a bright future ahead of me. I experienced the danger, hunger, thirst along with humiliation on my journey to freedom. It was a big price to pay for. It’s heart-wrenching looking back at my past. Now looking at the current situation where millions of people fleeing for their lives and found themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere. Some came to America illegally. I do not condone such actions because many people have to go through a legal process before they can be admitted here. However, seeing the images of children get separated from their undocumented parents made my heart bleed. No children should ever be going through this hurtful experiences which will scar them for life. Thankfully, President Trump just signed an order today to stop separating the children from parents. But what will their fate be like? Deportation? No one would be willing to leave their country and risk their lives to come here if they had a good life in their homeland. It’s an act of desperation and despair. Many lives are not created equally. Some live in peace and protected with love and care while others are struggling to survive. Only when you were a refugee and or being on the bottom of the social ladder, you would have empathy for those refugees who are in desperate need of finding a place to call home. May God bless them! May they soon be able to breathe the fresh air and be able to live with dignity. May they soon see the sunrays after the stormy nights. 🙏❤️
