Helping Refugees - Roya and Abdul
By: Usayd Siddiqui
Edited By: Isabella Dinelli
Did you know that August 31st , 2021 was the day President Joe Biden evacuated all American troops from Afghanistan? The people left there were at the mercy of the Taliban, creating fear among people who had affiliations with American companies including the one Roya and Abdul worked for. The Memory Project is a charitable nonprofit organization that invites art teachers and students to create and donate portraits to the youth around the world who have faced substantial changes, such as neglect, loss of parents, violence, war, natural disasters, and extreme poverty. Roya and Abdul (whose names have been changed in this article for their safety) were part of this organization and worked with our school, IA East, to give portraits to Afghan children just last year.
Mrs. Naus, visual arts teacher at IAE, got an email on August 25th 2021 from Benjamin Schumaker, who is the founder of the Memory Project. He got a call from Roya and Abdul, who were stuck in Afghanistan and needed to get out to either America or Canada. We were asked to do what we could, so we did. In Mr. Benitez’s A3 government class, on August 26th 2021 we decided that we should contact state representatives who could help Roya and Abdul get asylum, refugee status, to the states. So, our class contacted representatives with our concerns to see if we could get Roya and Abdul’s name on an asylum list.
My answer, like many others, was to call back with more information or most of the time no response in general. However, one of our students got in contact with a representative and got their names on the list. Trisha Mallempudi got a hold of her representative, who transferred her to Michael Tash. Michael Tash is the deputy district director of U.S. congresswoman Haley Stevens. When he spoke with her, Trisha said she couldn’t give him more information then she knew, but Ben Shuemaker could. So, she told him to contact Ben and they got the information they needed. A few days later she says, “I got an email from Michael Tash saying that they made it onto the asylum list.”
On August 31st we got an update from Ben Shuemaker who said they were smuggled across the border into Pakistan and are awaiting news on when they can enter the states. A big thanks to Trisha, and all other members of the class that helped make a difference for Roya and Abdul. Another thanks to Mr. Benitez and Mrs. Naus who informed us on what was going on. Keep making a difference in the world, International Academy East!
Mrs. Naus, visual arts teacher at IAE, got an email on August 25th 2021 from Benjamin Schumaker, who is the founder of the Memory Project. He got a call from Roya and Abdul, who were stuck in Afghanistan and needed to get out to either America or Canada. We were asked to do what we could, so we did. In Mr. Benitez’s A3 government class, on August 26th 2021 we decided that we should contact state representatives who could help Roya and Abdul get asylum, refugee status, to the states. So, our class contacted representatives with our concerns to see if we could get Roya and Abdul’s name on an asylum list.
My answer, like many others, was to call back with more information or most of the time no response in general. However, one of our students got in contact with a representative and got their names on the list. Trisha Mallempudi got a hold of her representative, who transferred her to Michael Tash. Michael Tash is the deputy district director of U.S. congresswoman Haley Stevens. When he spoke with her, Trisha said she couldn’t give him more information then she knew, but Ben Shuemaker could. So, she told him to contact Ben and they got the information they needed. A few days later she says, “I got an email from Michael Tash saying that they made it onto the asylum list.”
On August 31st we got an update from Ben Shuemaker who said they were smuggled across the border into Pakistan and are awaiting news on when they can enter the states. A big thanks to Trisha, and all other members of the class that helped make a difference for Roya and Abdul. Another thanks to Mr. Benitez and Mrs. Naus who informed us on what was going on. Keep making a difference in the world, International Academy East!