May 1, 2008

YM Blog-A-Thon: Life of a Refugee

Posted by Julia Koy at 12:00AM

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(Editor's note: Youth Outlook and WireTap are kicking off the third Youth Media Blog-a-thon. This month's topic is money. Check back frequently for updates and feel free to join the discussion.)

Their life as a struggle working to survive
Take in anything they got just to stay alive
Comin' to America for a better day
Still working twice as hard gettin' minimum pay.
Living life through struggles every single day
Hoping that one day it'll be okay
Their life is hard as a refugee
Learning complex things in a new country
Being looked down on cause you're Nobody
White man so high cause he's Somebody

Who Am I? Who are We? The first generation of a refugee. In games, playing Chinese jump-rope with your shoes off. White people in their baseball caps and knee pads. They got it good or do we?

In the streets, Us driving our old busted up wagons. Them, rollin' up in their new Mercedes Benz. In school, Them getting their straight A's and We gettin' B- D's.

In Jobs, Them in their fancy business suits with their collared shirts and ties. Us working at Chinese food and sweat shops in ripped clothes and a T-shirt.

Then in life, our families struggle trying to find a good paying job to support the family. We work as hard as we can to pay rent, insurance, raise family, pay gas, water and electricity bills and trying to get a car for easy transportation. Working 'illegally' just to pay it all off. While They just sit back and not have to worry about a thing. They have food on the 'Family Table' sit and talk to each other, catch up on things with their perfect TV family. While We wake up at 4a.m. coming home at 10 or 11 late at night. Cold food on the couch and not so much of a "Hey, how's your day?"

They're rich, We're poor. They have their business suits and we have ripped jeans and a T-shirt. They have nice houses that they own and their nice parking spaces while We have the rented bottom floor apartment. We sleep and we hear disturbing sounds and wake up with a parking ticket sitting on the window of the car. They have their Albertson's and Ralphs and we have Eddies Jr. Liquor Market.

You sit and think to yourself how good their life is and just wish for a day when you could be like them: rich, smart and white. But, when you sit and listen, you hear the history about how brave Our grandmother was fighting as a Cambodian in the Vietnam War to protect her 12 children. And then you remember April 15th, Cambodian New Year and how you would play powder fight and laugh with your friends, as you lead the traditions. What do they have?

We have history, culture, tradition, background, they have the giant textbooks that make no sense. We come to KGA and learn about our Community how to help better it and to better Ourselves and We find we are Somebody.

So guess what? .... I am Somebody!
I'm the second daughter of a refugee
I live life to the fullest cause they set me
Free, with proper limitations and security
I got history and culture in my Community
So if you listen up close you can learn from me.
Who am I?
Who are You?
and, Who are We?
An immigrant, refugee, yes, I'm Julie ...