January 16, 2004
Issue  13

RESPECT Volunteer Participates In Youth Program

by Charity Fadun

December 19th, 2003 I went from Winnipeg, Canada to Cameroon, Africa, from a dry -30C to a humid +35C; and participated in a youth mobility program called "Youth and the Promotion of Sustainable Development". This program was organized by the Collectif des association de jeunesse du Cameroun and funded by the Agence intergouvernementale de la Francophonie.

Twelve youths from seven countries came together for ten days to discuss topics related to the economy, the environment, social issues, and how they all relate to sustainable development. <<more>>

Guinea Students'
Want To Participate

by Harir Mohamoud

There is a growing desire among refugee students in Mohomou Refugee School, and surrounding schools to take part in RESPECT's International Pen Pal Exchange programme.

Intended to build bridges between refugee and non-refugee students around the world, the program has enabled refugee students in these areas to receive numerous letters and supplies such as footballs, pumps, and so forth, from Palo Community School through Mrs. Judy Huyhn, a teacher at the school. These refugee students have also benefited from the generosity of other individuals, such as Mrs. Shirley Shih, who supplied some stationery from her school in Taiwan. <<more>>

Refugee Students
Faced By Challenges

by Harir Mohamoud

Students and staff from Mohomou Refugee School and other such schools in N'zerekore township, as well as students in the camp, express their gratitude to RESPECT International for connecting them to students from overseas.

These refugee students have long wanted to communicate with students from other countries, and now RESPECT has made this possible. <<more>>

Poem By a Refugee

In this issue, we present a poem written by one of our readers, a refugee student in the eastern part of Nepal.

Pintu Agrawal is a Bhutanese refugee, and is studying grade 12 at the Siddhartha Boarding Higher Secondary School. His poem, we think, says it all:

'Bhutan is my lovely motherland
I can in no way forget,
I shall die to support motherland.
Even if the process makes me mad
We gather for the peace procession
To oppose the severe violation.
The golden era is gone, and misdeeds done,
Tortured and raped turn by turn.
Dreams scattered one after the other
Thousands dumped away further.'

If you would like to get in touch with Pintu, he looks forward to receiving emails at nabin080@yahoo.com.

As in any newsletter or magazine, RESPECT e-zine is committed to striving for interesting articles and announcements concerning refugee issues all around the world.

If you have any suggestions or would like to contribute an article, contact the e-zine editor, Ian Foster at respectezine@respectrefugees.org.

To be removed from our mailing list, please send an email to subscriptions@respectrefugees.org.