I have been involved with FORGE (Facilitating Opportunities for Refugee Growth and Empowerment) since my first semester at Pitt. I fist began as a tutor as a Freshman. Every Saturday for 3-4 hours I and three other girls would go to an Iraqi refugee family’s home to help children with homework, parents with language acquisition, and the family with everyday tasks. For example, one Monday I went with the father of this family to the bank to help fix a banking error, and on a different weekend, we took the mother and two children to a nearby park for a fun, social outing. This was a fantastic way for me to better understand how global processes are happening right here in Pittsburgh and to interact with a section of the community that is in need of friends and help navigating a new country.

Sophomore year I applied for and received the position of Advocacy and Outreach Coordinator on the board of FORGE. I created a letter writing campaign to ask representatives around the country to prioritize refugee issues and increase the number of refugees being let into the country. I also created a letter writing campaign to protest the so-called “Muslim Ban” that President Trump ran on during his campaign and has instituted recently.

In my Junior year I applied for and received the position of co-President on the board of FORGE. As co-President it was my job to make sure all the refugee families were paired up with tutors, our high school refugee mentorship program was running efficiently, and to plan two major events for the school and community to learn more about refugee issues in the city and globally. I planned one event around mental health in the refugee community and brought together a panel of experts on mental health issues in the refugee communities in Pittsburgh as well as generally in refugee camps around the world. I also planned another event in which I invited author Khet Mar to speak about her experiences in Burma and how this affected her literature career.

As a Senior, I have remained active in FORGE as an advisor for the current co-Presidents and as an active member of our Steering Committee. This committee consists of FORGE members and refugees from around Pittsburgh who are trying to make FORGE more responsive to refugee needs and wants.

See the following website for more information about FORGE: forgeatpitt.wordpress.com