Welcome to my Capstone Project Finding Refuge
Growing up, I have always felt safe and secure in my life. I live in a wonderful town in which I am always a walk away from the grocery store and I have access to clean water each day. However, throughout my time at Loomis and ever since I started taking Arabic and learning about the Middle East, I have realized that many people don't have access to the same privileges that I do. Understanding that fact, I began to want to take action and help those in need. With over 26 million refugees in the world, I know that I won't be able to help everyone, thus I have created my website Finding Refuge in order to spread awareness about the refugee crisis within the Middle East. Before taking Arabic, I never really knew much about the Middle East and Arabic nor did I understand or know how extensive the refugee crisis was within the region. Thus, my website was created with the purpose of educating those unaware on the crisis as well as offer ways in which one can get involved. With an extensive list of organizations and nonprofits listed on the page, I hope those visiting the website will become more informed and use the websites and links to get involved. Finally, my website is inspired by an organization that I hope to bring to fruition in the future. While at university and beyond, I hope to continue to add to my site and create a working organization in which individuals can connect with me and share their thoughts and ideas.
Statement of Purpose
As mentioned above, I intend my website to be used as an educational tool for Loomis students and faculty and beyond. Targeted to those with little to no understanding of the problem, my website is easy to follow and provides basic information on the crisis. At Loomis, I believe that this website can be used in Arabic classrooms as well as history classes like History of the Middle East to help provide a succinct background on the refugee crisis. Further, the website can be an important resource for any clubs or organizations on campus that hold volunteer events as my website features a list of organizations that students can work with in regards to the refugee crisis.
Project Reflection
Ever since my first Arabic class at Loomis, I have felt a passion to better educate myself on issues facing the refugee community within the Middle East. My sophomore year, a friend and I began the UNICEF club on campus, and in my junior year, I was really able to get involved and work with organizations at the ground level and visit refugee camps. Thus, I am proud to have created a website that can aid others in understanding the issue and help to get involved. As I mentioned above, before I took Arabic at Loomis, I truly had no understanding of the crisis nor of the Middle East as a whole and I feel that this ignorance of the Arabic-speaking world is rather common throughout the US. Due to negative stereotypes and Islamophobia, many Americans view the Arab world as a war-ridden, backward, oppressive region; thus, I wanted to create a project that would challenge these opinions as well as offer ways to get involved. At the beginning of this process, I had hoped to work with a partner from Syria to create a platform that would aid refugee families moving to America; however, due to COVID as well as not having the resources to create such a platform, I decided to create a podcast discussing issues facing the refugee community. While my website still features two of these podcast episodes, I wanted to add more to my project, hence the creation of my website. As a young, white adult, I understand that my ability to speak on these issues facing the refugee community comes from a space of privilege. From having the ability to attend private school to always having access to food and water, I will never understand the feeling of having to flee my home and find refuge in a completely different culture. However, I can educate myself and find ways to use my privilege to aid those in need. Throughout this project, I have also been able to reflect on myself as a global and environmental scholar. I have been able to explore my own cultural and environmental identity while also learning about other's perspectives in order to gain a more holistic understanding of the crisis. Through my work at The Experiment Virtual Exchange program, I was able to develop skills to connect with my peers and take action to help in the crisis. In the future, I hope to continue to educate myself and work with refugees. I aim to continue posting to my website and taking action whenever I can.
Please visit the website here: https://elizabethchapman94.wixsite.com/my-site
Statement of Purpose
As mentioned above, I intend my website to be used as an educational tool for Loomis students and faculty and beyond. Targeted to those with little to no understanding of the problem, my website is easy to follow and provides basic information on the crisis. At Loomis, I believe that this website can be used in Arabic classrooms as well as history classes like History of the Middle East to help provide a succinct background on the refugee crisis. Further, the website can be an important resource for any clubs or organizations on campus that hold volunteer events as my website features a list of organizations that students can work with in regards to the refugee crisis.
Project Reflection
Ever since my first Arabic class at Loomis, I have felt a passion to better educate myself on issues facing the refugee community within the Middle East. My sophomore year, a friend and I began the UNICEF club on campus, and in my junior year, I was really able to get involved and work with organizations at the ground level and visit refugee camps. Thus, I am proud to have created a website that can aid others in understanding the issue and help to get involved. As I mentioned above, before I took Arabic at Loomis, I truly had no understanding of the crisis nor of the Middle East as a whole and I feel that this ignorance of the Arabic-speaking world is rather common throughout the US. Due to negative stereotypes and Islamophobia, many Americans view the Arab world as a war-ridden, backward, oppressive region; thus, I wanted to create a project that would challenge these opinions as well as offer ways to get involved. At the beginning of this process, I had hoped to work with a partner from Syria to create a platform that would aid refugee families moving to America; however, due to COVID as well as not having the resources to create such a platform, I decided to create a podcast discussing issues facing the refugee community. While my website still features two of these podcast episodes, I wanted to add more to my project, hence the creation of my website. As a young, white adult, I understand that my ability to speak on these issues facing the refugee community comes from a space of privilege. From having the ability to attend private school to always having access to food and water, I will never understand the feeling of having to flee my home and find refuge in a completely different culture. However, I can educate myself and find ways to use my privilege to aid those in need. Throughout this project, I have also been able to reflect on myself as a global and environmental scholar. I have been able to explore my own cultural and environmental identity while also learning about other's perspectives in order to gain a more holistic understanding of the crisis. Through my work at The Experiment Virtual Exchange program, I was able to develop skills to connect with my peers and take action to help in the crisis. In the future, I hope to continue to educate myself and work with refugees. I aim to continue posting to my website and taking action whenever I can.
Please visit the website here: https://elizabethchapman94.wixsite.com/my-site