Tima is the woman and innovator behind Urban Refuge’s #IAmMore project. Tima is a student at Boston University, the Operations Manager at Urban Refuge, and the founder of #IAmMore.
In 2006, my parents decided to move our family to Syria to acquaint us with our Arabic heritage and language. However, what we thought would be a temporary visit eventually became a more permanent one. As a child, it was difficult for me to grasp the idea that I might not return to the U.S. again, but I soon grew eager to acquire two new languages, Arabic and French, and integrate into the new culture. Although difficult, a positive mindset and self-encouragement carried me a long way as I navigated one of the most culturally rich cities in the Levant.
For the first few years war was a distant sound, whispers in the wind. In our third year things changed dramatically. Almost imperceptibly, the shift happened and the entire country was cloaked in the agonizing sounds of war - protestors shouting, bombs erupting, tanks firing, bullets hailing and underneath it all, I heard my country crying. As the hostility moved into our neighborhood, I soon realized that I was living in a war zone; distant sounds of detonating bombs transformed into nearby grenade explosions a street away. I feared for my life; the skies of Syria’s future were dark.
Day after day, windows rattled as bombs tore through the once lively city of Damascus, quickly rendering it lifeless. Fear permeated our house and my parents decided to flee back to the safety of the US. Since I was already born in the U.S. and spoke English fluently, I had an easier time reacclimating, but this came with a few bumps along the way.
On my first day of 9th grade I recall being asked in front of the entire class if, as someone who recently fled a civil war in Syria, I would consider myself a refugee. The entire class gasped at the question and I felt humiliated. The classroom’s reaction and my feeling of shame with being labelled a refugee is what fuels my passion for this project.
This experience catalyzed my resolve to work as hard as I could to change the narrative about refugees and immigrants. In my small home town in Florida, I wanted to be the daughter of Syrian immigrants that disproved the stereotypes of immigrants being lazy or reliant on state welfare. Despite the financial and social hardships associated with moving from a warzone, my dreams came to life as I earned local scholarships and a full scholarship from Boston University to pursue my undergraduate degree. I will never forget the day my mother and I glanced at my acceptance letter and my financial aid package, realizing that all the hard work and struggle paid off. I have also been lucky to receive two scholarships from both the Department of State and the Department of Defense to learn Turkish and hope to fulfill my career goals of becoming a Foreign Service Officer upon graduation. As I continue my journey studying at Boston University, I am motivated to make a difference in the way people perceive and talk about refugees. I want to be a change agent in my community and believe this campaign is a stepping stone.
By speaking of my journey, I want to illustrate that refugees and immigrants are unique and hard working groups of people, often spending their entire lives rebuilding what they had in their home countries. This involves letting go of their identity to blend into their new home country where people are not always hospitable and accepting. Refugees and immigrants only seek to establish a better life elsewhere and establish a sense of belonging. Labelling someone as a refugee or immigrant often limits them to this status and undermines their stories, skills and successes. With this campaign, I hope to illuminate that refugees and immigrants are more than just those titles - we are authors, parents, siblings, teachers, students, change agents and role models with amazing dreams and accomplishments. We have names, identities, goals and aspirations that surpass the word "refugee” or “immigrant.” At Urban Refuge, we want to show the story behind the label. We refuse to be limited by the words “refugee” or “immigrant” because just like everyone else, we dream, we aspire and we work hard.
