By Katherine Yaremko, Columnist
Throughout this week, the University is working to raise awareness about refugees around the world through a program known as Refugee Camp(us.) Students passing Calkins Quad have noticed the tents set up across the grass and perhaps even heard experts or former refugees speak about the issues. I think this is a wonderful idea and I am glad the University has devoted time and attention to it. The project started me thinking about the different means by which causes and humanitarian issues are addressed by individuals desiring to contribute.
Participating in humanitarian causes when one comes from a privileged community can create some murky ethical issues, that is, if one is concerned about one's own personal motivations for participating. Before I go any further, I want to clarify that I, in no way, am looking to put down those who do pick up an issue or cause and work to make a positive contribution toward something significant to them. I certainly should be doing more charity work than what I currently do; I have an enormous amount of respect for those who engage in it.
However, there is one form of awareness-raising that I think is most likely effective but can also be controversial. It's the act of recreating a part of what one is trying to bring awareness to and improve. In the case of Refugee Camp(us), this replication takes the form of tents spread across the grass, replicating, somewhat, an actual refugee camp. This method I think is particularly effective when it comes to raising awareness and drawing attention to an issue as it creates a mini model from which people can get somewhat of an idea of what the situation is actually like.
I do not believe this is an issue with Refugee Campus. I think, in this situation, that the camps on the quad are there for awareness purposes; and I think it's a great idea. One example where I saw this sort of thing become a problem was with the event One Day without Shoes sponsored by TOMS shoes. The organization asked participators to walk, on April 8, for the whole day, or at least a part of it, without shoes in order to raise awareness about children in developing nations who are forced to live barefoot. The University had organized its own program that day.
One of the YouTube videos featuring TOMS's "Day without Shoes" depicted several people who had participated in the event, or were planning to, spoke about their reasons for doing so. I think that if the reason for recreating something is to bring more attention to the actual issue, then the intentions behind it are good. Something I noticed however, was that some of the participators seemed to believe that their single-day experience gave them insight into the lives of those children. One girl commented that she was participating in this event as a way to "walk in the footsteps of all the kids we give shoes to." She also mentioned how she wanted to feel the concrete, gravel, and soil beneath her feet. It was this comment that I found particularly insulting.
I am not attacking anyone who participated in this event, either at the University or elsewhere, as I am sure not everyone carried these motivations. The point is that if one wishes to contribute to a humanitarian or social cause, I believe it is better done for the purposes of actually bringing about some kind of effective change. If, for some reason, you have a burning desire to "feel the concrete beneath your feet," then just walk barefoot; don't use a humanitarian cause to promote it.