New Way of Thinking (The Right to Rights)

By: Bogdana & Yvette

In just two days, our group has learned an abundance of information about the community surrounding Atlanta.  Yesterday, we were lucky enough to take part in nonviolence training brought to us by New Way.  In this training, we were exposed to new ways of thinking and acting in various circumstances that we may face. The activities that Barak and Ronald presented us with had us challenge our way of looking at certain situations, ranging from the labels we place on others to the values we saw most important in our lives. We left the training with a plethora of questions about not only the system and society we find ourselves in but about our own personal beliefs and thoughts as well. That night’s reflection led us on a three-hour discussion that answered some questions and left us with many more than we ever thought imaginable.

The following morning, we were finally able to delve into the Clarkston community. At New American Pathways we were able to take a look behind the scenes of what goes into aiding refugees. By organizing the supply rooms, we came to the realization that helping a family doesn’t just stop after you’ve found them a place to live and a job to work at. These non-profits are fully engaged in the lives of their clients, right down to the bars of soap that we may take for granted.  

Afterwards, we had the opportunity to work with refugee students in the community. We noted that you can’t find children more genuine than the refugees we worked with in the after school programs run by New American Pathways. The students of Jolly and McLendon Elementary were open to us all and immediately immersed us in their games. They were open to talk about who they were and where they were from.  They were also excited to know the same about us! Our worries of a language barrier were extinguished when we realized that these children were eager for the opportunity to discover something new and create new bonds with us. 

We ended the day with an amazing surprise: Trivia Night, which almost got taken over by a few intense rounds of Knock Out! We’re incredibly grateful to all of the volunteers from Something New that made this night so unbelievable. The genuine passion and personalities of every volunteer is something all of us value and we could not thank them enough for a more amazing experience thus far.