Outcasts United

While I was beginning to read Outcasts United, I was originally thinking "this is just another pointless, annoying summer reading project."  Well, I read on and continued to feel that way.  Few more chapters in I said to myself "well damn, I still feel the same way."  I soon realized that this wasn't just a book about a bunch of kids kicking a ball around.  This book had a bigger meaning and symbolized something more important that a soccer ball.

This book is the story of many different children and families who all came to the United States because of war and famine in their countries of origin.  Many of these children came from countries where shoes weren't even worn; they would walk around their neighborhoods barefoot.  Reading the different stories, I started to feel a connection with the children and families.  I imagined how hard it would be to live in a place where civil war was a daily routine.  I tried to imagine being in my home and having police officers storm through the door and kill my family members.  Then my final thought was "how can these individuals proceed to live a normal life and be successful?"  I still have not come up with an answer.  It amazes me that people are strong enough to endure all that physical, psychological, and emotional damage and over come all of the odds and start a new life.  To be a single mother with three children and have to commute an hour each way to work, and think about these scenes from the past.  It takes a very strong person to move on from these thoughts and experiences.

If put in a position of a refugee, how do you think you would cope with the stress and memories of a desolate homeland and family?

Young children in a refugee camp.

Image courtesy of google images