GRADE 8 REFUGEE CREATIVE WRITING
Jason Park
GRADE 8 REFUGEE CREATIVE WRITING
Bade KOLCUOĞLU
In our LA class this term we read the novel , Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman . The book is about a boy named Jamal and his family who live in Afghanistan during a time of war and must leave their home and become refugees . In the story they must travel to Australia and leave everything behind . To better understand different issues , different perspectives and explore what it meant to have empathy for people who are different than us , we created a fictional story about what it would feel like to become a refugee . For this activity we tried to imagine ourselves in the same situation as Jamal and wrote a story about it . We had to decide where we were going , how we would get there , for example by boat or plane , why we had to leave , and how we would feel if we were in the shoes of the main character . I had fun while I was writing my story . I also learned about Afghanistan and different issues that real refugees must face everyday .
Daniel AMON
I was celebrating my birthday when everything changed . I don ’ t even know how it happened but my dad was watching the news and then he told us to get into the car quickly . I didn ’ t know where we were going but I could tell by the street signs that we were going to the airport . When we arrived at the airport everyone was shouting and pushing . Dad said we were lucky to get a flight . We got onto a German plane . When we went to Germany nothing was happening in Germany so we felt like everything was ok . We have a cousin in Germany who let us stay with him while there was a war going on in Turkey . I don ’ t even know how it could happen but I know that I had to give up my old life completely . After two months the war ended and we could return home . I couldn ’ t believe how lucky we were but when we came back we found that our house was still standing . So many other people in our neighborhood lost everything , many houses were destroyed or blown up and many people had died during the war . This was the worst period of my life but I am so happy that my family and I were able to stay together and survive .
Zeynep KURT
It was a normal beautiful day . My family and I were walking on the street when we heard a noise that exploded in our ears . Then we saw everybody running into the streets . We heard sirens everywhere . People shouted that the big noise came from a bomb . Soldiers came and told us that we had to leave . Our car was blown up in the blast and all of the public transportation systems were down . We didn ’ t know what to do . We followed a group of people who led us to a boat . Everything happened so quickly ! They asked us where we lived and said they would help us get back to our house . It was a long journey but when the morning came , we finally made it . When we got to the port we were lucky to find a taxi that was able to take us back to our house . My dad told us to grab only the most important things and that we had to leave our home . I couldn ’ t believe it . Now I am standing in my home and I am still shocked about what has happened . All of these things are too much for me but I know that today - everything will change .
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