Story Archives of 'Refugees'

Since the war in Iraq began in 2003, it’s believed that more than 4 million Iraqis have fled their homes. About half of the displaced are still living within Iraq, and the other half in neighboring countries, mostly in Jordan and Syria.

It’s a growing humanitarian disaster. Without legal status, refugees are forced to turn to crime or prostitution. Aid groups are overwhelmed, and governments are afraid that sectarian tensions could spill over among the exiles.

Two playwrights from New York, Jessica Blank and her husband, Eric Jensen, travelled to Amman, Jordan last summer to interview some of those refugees. Those conversations are now being transformed into a series of monologues that will be performed at Dartmouth College this weekend, as part of the New York Theatre Workshop. Jessica Blank joins Word of Mouth to discuss the process of turning interview transcripts into documentary theater.

You can catch a performance of the "Iraq Refugees Project" at Dartmouth's Warner Bentley Theater on Friday, August 15 at 8 pm, and on Saturday, August 16 at 5 pm. Tickets are $10, Dartmouth students $3, all other students $6.

(Photo by James Gordon)

19 year old Sudanese refugee Barnaba Madol arrived in this country five years ago.

He had a 4th grade education and spoke no English.

Last fall on this program we caught up with him as he tried to make his way in a nearly all-white high school in New Hampshire.

TAPE: I can't speak English or anything. I use my weapon which is soccer. And soccer, soccer does the talking for you.

Barnaba spent the past year at an elite prep school in New Hampshire trying to get into college on a soccer scholarship.

But New Hampshire Public Radio's Dan Gorenstein reports this past school year Barnaba's come to realize-maybe- soccer isn't enough.

Today we begin our series on childhood lead poisoning and how the state is responding to it.

This heavy metal can be disastrous to a child's health - a fact that has been known since the early 1900's. By 1909, France, Belgium and Austria had banned the use of lead paint inside homes.

Such paint is not the only source of the metal, but today, it is the most widespread.

America also banned lead paint - in 1978. But almost three decades later, New Hampshire still confronts about 250 cases of lead poisoning each year.

New Hampshire Public Radio's Amy Quinton has our first report.

She looks at the one group that has been hit hardest by lead poisoning - newly arrived refugees from Africa.

They flee their homelands in the face of war, disaster and famine. But once here in the U-S, they face new challenges: language barriers, housing problems and, sometimes, discrimination. Now, a new report from a task force in Manchester is raising questions about how New Hampshire helps refugees build new lives in the state. Today on the Exchange we'll look at the refugee experience in the Granite State, the challenges they face, the challenges their host state and city face and explore ideas on better integrating them into New Hampshire life. Laura's guests are Mayor Frank Guinta, Mayor of Manchester; Chau Kelley, a resident of Hooksett who came to the state in 1994 as a refugee from Vietnam; Nasir Arush, Deputy Director of the Somali Development Center; and Nabil Migalli, an activist from Manchester who works with several organizations that assist refugees. We'll also hear from Amy Ignatius, director of the state's Office of Energy and Planning, which oversees the state's role in refugee resettlement.

Over the last few months, several hundred African refugees were resettled in Manchester. We'll take a look at who they are, the challenges they face, and how the city is handling this new and very different population. Laura is joined by Robert Baines, Mayor of Manchester, Dr. Westy Egmont, executive director of the International Institute of Boston, and Beatrice Munyenyezi, a Manchester resident who was a refugee from Rwanda. Ms. Munyenyezi now works at the Manchester Housing Authority.