Refugees in the news

In case you missed it, there were some excellent refugee-related stories in the news this week.

From Colorado Public Radio, an excellent overview of the specific and special health needs of refugees. What do doctors and other health care providers need to know and keep in mind when working with refugee patients? This story is about 20 minutes long, but worth every minute. The medical school at the University of Colorado has also added a refugee rotation for its students who are training to be doctors. The first family mentioned in the story was also part of our in-home tutoring program. Click here to link to the story and access the online media player.

From National Public Radio (NPR), an intriguing look at the long, sometimes incomprehensible journey that asylum seekers take to get to the U.S. Although many asylum seekers come into the country as students, workers, or tourists, many others enter on foot, via the U.S-Mexico border, with journeys that originate in places such as China, Sudan, Eritrea, or Nepal. We've heard many similar stories as our students have told us their own accounts of risking everything to find safe haven in the U.S. Click here to listen to the story.

David Gilkey/NPR

Also from NPR, an audio story and photo essay about internally displaced populations in Afghanistan. Although you can read this story, it really is worth the time to listen. The photography tells a story all its own. Click here to access this story.

Photo: KUSA

Last week, you may have come upon this story. It was produced locally and also ran  on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Amira Ali lived the past 24 years believing her daughter had been killed when the family fled an attack on their village in South Sudan. When Amira set up her Facebook account, she soon got the incredible news that her daughter was alive. The two were recently reunited in Denver. Click here to watch this story.