 Good morning everyone My name is Bashir Abdallah. I've been living in Burlington for about seven years with my wife We have a three and a half year old daughter who will be or will eventually be in the Burlington school system I'm here to talk to you about a Bit of about my background and a few other things. I'll be perfectly honest I really struggled thinking about what to say when I got here. I have no prepared notes I figured I'd just wing it and just be honest about My life it's a lot easier to talk about your your lived experience than it is to type up something and think through it but I thought I'd talk a little bit about my father and share a little bit about his story and and His struggle and I think in in light of the theme of resistance one thing that we Palestinians feel is important in In our approach to resistance is making sure that people recognize that we exist And that we are humans like anyone else I Was flying home on Friday back from Nashville. I worked on Nashville once a month. I get on a plane and go down there and Just in the seat in front of me was Younger woman and man who had met another person from Melbourne, Australia on the flight and I was observing Sort of their interaction with each other and they were super excited to see each other It's like oh you met someone You know in LaGuardia from Melbourne how you know, what are the chances right and where my mind went to is how unrealistic that scenario would be for my father Because you know, they were talking about what suburb of Melbourne they lived in and who they knew that might have been similar And for my father and for my family in general that reality is not is not possible My father was born in 1947 in a small town just outside of Jerusalem 30 minutes In less of Jerusalem called Bait Mahseer Bait Mahseer is a small farming village. It's no longer in existence today. It's now renamed Bait Ma'ir. It's under Israeli occupation And at the age of one my father was a refugee He and his family had to leave their home like millions of other Palestinians had to and they emigrated They refused rather through and into Ramallah, which is one of the bigger cities in Palestine in the West Bank My family struggled quite a bit my dad and his family he was one of nine kids only three survived three of the children survived and When he became I think when he was around 16 or 17 his father had died It as they were traversing The desert to go to Jericho where they were seeking work and he died of a stroke So at a very young age my dad was thrust into a position where he didn't really have a childhood And I think when you're when you're seeing conflict around the world whether it's in Palestine or frankly anywhere you Naturally empathize with or at least I do empathize with what people are going through and struggle that people tend to have my father then Decided to at the age of 17 to move to Lebanon because there was no economic opportunities keep in mind Palestinians were being pushed into a different place and Many of them had very little in my case of my parents. They were farming You know all of their money came from farming and so they moved from a place where they had some Study income to a place where they had nothing and so they were living in tents in and around Ramallah and My father decided to move to Lebanon in an effort to work And send money home to his family He spent a few years there and Like many Palestinians who left it the the territory They moved all over the world. They moved to Australia and China and Baranquilla Columbia and Chile in fact there's a Palestinian soccer club in Chile today And here in two United States, of course my father and his brother his his older brother Had moved to Colombia. My father instead went to Spain spent four years in Valencia studying literature First person in his family to go to college And became fluent in Spanish. In fact, we jokingly say he speaks Spanish, but I didn't speak Arabic and certainly English So he then Move to the US Virgin Islands, which is where I grew up most of my years It's kind of an odd place like what why would you guys move to the US Virgin Islands of all of all places? But there's a pretty large population of Palestinians living in the island of St. Croix And he started a business and he started sending money home because at this time for Our family and his family in particular the idea of resistance wasn't a possibility like protesting and and Trying to speak up about your background and you're and where you come from If that's not the option in front of him The option in front of him is sending money home to take care of your family to simply put food on the table for your family And so many people in our in our world Whether impacted by conflict or climate change are struggling with very similar challenges He started a business And it was a bit of a grocery store effectively with a bit of a distribution business with his cousin and They were quite successful. They grew the business really well within the first five years He met my mother through a friend of his who had lived in St. Croix My mother is also Palestinian by her family lives in Jordan and they got married. They had I'm one of seven So he were a huge family My oldest brother was born and my mom was pregnant with my Older brother one of my older brothers when Tragedy struck again. My father was shot his cousin his business partner was murdered in in the US Virgin Islands and He lost everything so he was in the hospital for nine nine months. It's almost a miracle that he lived He was shot directly in the face And somehow some way He did not die His his cousin who was shot in the stomach Was being helicoptered to Puerto Rico to San Juan to the biggest hospital there in the hopes that they can save him And sadly he passed and the helicopter ride over I bring this up because I think that It's really important to put yourself in the Psychology of someone who's gone through tragedy in their life. You've had your home taken from you You've lost brothers and sisters as a result of fleeing You've lost your father. You've now lost your cousin and and your business and in spite of that my father Fought hard to to start again. They were they moved back to Jordan after my father was released from the hospital and They lived in Jordan for maybe six months when my dad realized that there's no way he can live enjoying at the time Jordan was a You know today Jordan's a beautiful country and it's you know got people from all across The Middle East that lived there, but at the time it was kind of backwards and you know having lived in the United States My father wanted his kids to grow up in an environment where education was Supported and promoted and that was not necessarily the case in Jordan So they moved to Staten Island, which is where I was born And My dad started selling mattresses and clothing out of a back of the van. You'd get up at five in the morning Beat the rush hour traffic to make it into Manhattan to buy goods and then back to some highway off of the end off of the Verrazano Bridge to sell Whatever he could to make money to rate to support his family Many people who've experienced conflict would probably fear be fearful of moving back to the place that The issue or the in his case the crime was committed but he opted to move back to St. Croix in in 1986 when I was about four years old and We went down there and we started a business again started another you know business selling paper and plastic products and 1989 rolls around Hurricane Hugo hits the island devastates our business again and and in spite of that yet again my father pushed through and And and we live and then you know he just he just said, you know, this is not gonna be the end all be all This is partly why I'm here my family My dad sent us up to upstate New York We are my family's from a little town called Cherry Valley, New York which is just outside of Cooperstown if you're familiar with it and We We started to see this kind of perseverance in my father and I think that that perseverance trickled down to us as kids We then moved back to Palestine in 1995 and This was a time of relative peace There was certainly some conflict but the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the Palestinian authorities and a PLO's President yes or our fat had struck peace deal with Bill Clinton and at the Camp David Accords, of course and You know peace was on the horizon and so we were there during a really important time in Palestinian history It was the first time that we were Had the opportunity to self-governance and so our You know it was there when they came when yesterday our fire came in on a helicopter to Ramallah And it was a really big thing for us and the Palestine and the The Israeli forces left the city of Ramallah and the Palestinian police the Palestinian authorities took over But soon after that Unfortunately, it's a carbine was assassinated and he was a fairly moderate politician and what replaced them would become Pretty pretty extreme politics on the Israeli side. So things descended into chaos within a couple of years. We had to leave One point I in in all of this, you know story that I share with you And I'm sure it might come as a shock and you think to yourself Well, how does a family or a person put go through so much? It's not always pretty for us as kids. We felt the anger. We felt The guilt that my father my parents had in general we felt a lot of that and I think for me a really important point that is not often not talked about on the Ugly side of conflict. I think as as kids We want our parents we our parents are our heroes. We looked up to them We think of them in this really incredible capacity, but we also look past our flaws sometimes too and For me my father was quite angry. He was quite frustrated by what he had experienced Personal he was yes. He persevered. He went through all that A part of my resistance is making sure that I don't do the same things for my daughter In spite of the fact that I've gone through quite a bit my in my in my own respective life I don't want to do the same thing for my daughter that my father did for us and I think I think that In order to rebuild and in order to in my case Work toward a lasting and free Palestine it starts with being Persevering through challenges and struggles, but it also means that I'm setting that up my daughter in a way that she's educated That she appreciates her homeland even though she may not be able to visit her homeland that she will advocate and and Resists in her own respective ways, but that she's not compromised in any way that she doesn't feel the pain and the The challenges the struggle of the pain that my father had to go through and And that's a really hard thing to realize and I I'm really blessed and fortunate that I have six brothers and sisters Who see that as well? Because so many families today Don't have this don't have the second to stop and think about those type of things They are just doing and acting and if you think about the people of Gaza right now that are going through What is you know one of the worst atrocities in modern history? They're not they're not thinking about those same things. I I remember reading a stat before Before October 7th and and the proceeding conflict that Something to the tune of 70% of children and as a have PTSD 70% that was before they completely destroyed The territory in all the cities and killed 32,000 people So how do you come back from something like that? Like how do how do people move forward, right? For me, I know I know it sounds cliche, but I I try to I try to In spite of Politics and people telling me one thing or the other I try to live a life of love and and Respect and appreciation for anyone from any walk of life whether you are Israeli or whether you are someone impacted by conflict Because I think that I can't I can't think of a better way to approach life and To approach these difficult conversations and these difficult tasks if we're screaming at one another That's not gonna come to the type of result we want for for us as Palestinians It's really important that That that our existence is heard and seen and and part of that is by In in you know in the face of all this conflict and in the face of all this pain that we elevate and rise ourselves above some of the Expectations of what people think we're gonna act like or or behave or or so So yeah, that that's sort of a little bit of my background in my family particularly my father I'll I'll with a few minutes left. I'll open it up for any questions or thoughts that any of you all might have Sorry, you guys are the first group. I think by the third group that speech will be better. So we'll see how it goes Yeah, we have quite a bit of family still there most of my family are in the West Bank in and around Ramallah We do stay in touch with them We had some distance family distant family that was Unfortunately killed in Reza but In addition to that there's just been a lot of violence settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank So many of them have been struggling with just how to navigate their days and and in light of what's happening Yes Thank you. Yeah, appreciate that Yes No, she's she's American I think it's kind of funny because her half her family is like Canadian The other half is I think Lithuanian Which immigrated here right around the same time that Ben who did the Los Miro project immigrated. So some interesting Things there. Yes Jordan. Yeah, yeah Why can't my family from Palestine come here? There's a couple of reasons one Generally speaking Israel's policy toward Palestinians of leaving the territory are very open They want Palestinians to leave They in fact would encourage it. In fact, you're even seeing with respect to what's happening in Reza, you know Pirate of the propaganda commentary that's happening. It's like well, why won't Egypt take them in right? It's like no Egypt should not have to take them in you should stop dropping bombs Right, that's not that's not the conversation So in the case of my family, they don't want to come because they want to hold on to their homeland There's fear that if you leave you will lose your land and we've seen that that's exactly what's happened The second thing is there there's some limitations in immigration So there's a lot of young Palestinians who come here to America and and do a student visa and then try to stay on and work But but it's it's quite limiting too. So there's like a whole lottery system Much easier than say India or China, but but still fairly difficult to even come here. So When we left Yeah, so so it's interesting we we overstayed our visa So my my dad was born there his intention was for us to move back there and stay there. We were not planning on coming back we overstayed our visa you know by six months and If any of us got caught we would have been deported with or without our parents So we we were stupid as kids. We were I think I was in the eighth grade We would go to Jerusalem with our US passports if we got stopped We could have been put on a plane back to New York without our parents And but we wanted McDonald's so like, you know, we had to take the risk So there was these things that we would do and you know us us kids who had a US passport had more rights than Palestinians than any other Palestinian who didn't have documentation to enter Jerusalem Middle school Yeah, yeah, oh man Yeah, no, there's a lot. There's a lot. I mean I think one of the funniest things is we went to an English secondary school and I Don't know if anyone's into hip-hop or rap here But we went to English went to English secondary school and you have these Palestinian Americans Literally from all over the world. So my Arabic was broken But it was English Arabic, but we had kids from Germany imagine me speaking to another Palestinian He spoke predominantly German, but we would communicate in Arabic But his Arabic was German broken my Arabic was English broken So we had this like weird thing the the reason I bring up rap is because this was right around the time of Tupac and biggie and and we had these like kids from the West Coast Who are Palestinian and kids from the East Coast were Palestinian and they were fighting over? Tupac and biggie in Palestine. I'm like what is like? I mean I was an island boy. So we like Jim We like like, you know Bob Marley and whatnot. So I was like, what is going on here? Yes, I was a weird but funny experience to see that sort of thing But this is what happens like you bring you grow up somewhere you bring like your reality to the situation but Yes It's funny you say that because I didn't know that my father was shot until he was 18 years old He had all the signs of wounds from a shooting. I had no clue my father would call it the accidents and Essentially, St. Croix has 24% unemployment When I asked my father about it when I was 18 or 19 He told me that the reason this happened is because people have less and they came into our store And they try to take money it wasn't because the population of St. Croix was set up for success St. Croix was a slave colony, you know in fact our high school wasn't an old slave plantation so It's amazing. I think for my father I've seen racism on so little on so little, you know just pure hate in people's hearts I'm so very little my father was literally shot by a black man and instead of making that a racist thing in our family he uses an opportunity to enlighten us about You know the the challenges that other people face in their lives You know and I and I and I admire him for that I admire my mother for that as well because they never used they never Used what was happening in Palestine or what happened to him at any stage of his life To try to elicit hate in our hearts and our minds as we went through life as well So I would say, you know, I would say that No, it was not necessarily a racist thing. In fact in in St. Croix I Felt and I went to you know, I was I was the white kid in school I Felt more supported by my cruisin brothers and sisters than frankly anywhere. I'd ever lived or gone in my entire life Yeah, I mean, I think one of the most important things that that we all can do is Sometimes it's it's honestly not listening to the adults in the room because the adults in the room have a tendency to tell you that this is a You know a complicated conflict that goes back and stretches thousands of years, which is complete and utter baloney This is a conflict of 70 plus years People came in took some other people's land took access to all the aqueducts and water and the other people are resisting that and Violence has been going back and forth since then. It's not that complicated I think what you what I would encourage you all to do is Try to keep an open mind About about the conflict You know have empathy for the children and the families are that are impacted by by what's happening and At the same time where it is most difficult for you all and for people in our world today is Discerning truth from false falsities. What is real and what is false? And I think that If you Are led to believe that things are complicated and throw up your hands and say well I can't figure this out because it's too complicated Well, then that's exactly what people want you to believe But if you actually dig in and read and understand the perspective of Palestinians I think you'll see the truth lying right there in front of you. Yeah. Thank you Gazi Gazi Yeah, he goes by Gus. So yeah. Yeah, he is he's turned 77 this year Yeah, so he's a he's a he's an old guy He he actually doesn't know his birth date He he's because this family like they they had to flee their home. So they And Berger's birth dates back then weren't as important So he just made up. He knew he was born in August of 47. So he just made up the day So we don't really know if that's actually his birthday if it was me, I would have probably picked four or five days in August and just Continue celebration, but well, thank you all for listening. I really appreciate and appreciate the questions Hi guys How are you all good? Okay, so I'm just gonna give you a little bit of you know a little tiny story about how This story came up to be a story. So I English is my third language. So I took English composition as my first class at CCD and as assignment was to write anything that you want to write and I use that as a Reflection of I wanted to write that story. The story of me leaving Bosnia So what I did is I wrote a story and then my professor really liked the story and she's like We're gonna publish that school story. We're gonna send it and to be honest. I didn't really know English I didn't even know what publish means. I'm like, you know, she can do with my story, whatever she wants, right? Then maybe after a month and a half. I received a phone call from someone Saying that they're gonna give me one thousand five hundred for this story to be published in some Townsend Foundation book and Again, I understood half. I thought it's like oh someone is just making joke out of story. La la la And guess what my teacher then explained to me that yes, she sent the story and I won one thousand five hundred at this story and You know money was really good at that time 1500 was kind of enough I did edit this story a little bit because if I kept it as it was Half of this you would not understand because it was like a Bosnian story with the English translation And we don't have articles and all that so it was just like well So I did kind of work on this story a little bit few years ago I'm like, no, let me let me redo this a little bit better since I hope that my English is a little bit better Then it was then so I'm just gonna start. I did prepare myself You know, you never know Sometimes I can just read it with no problem. Sometimes it just hit me all these feelings and emotions and you know what? That's okay. That's fine So I'm just gonna do my best and read the story and then I will answer questions if you have any so I Was born in a small town in northern Bosnia. I grew up in a lovely family house with my father mother and my brother Who was or is three years older than me my parents were the best parents that someone could wish to have They gave us everything we needed and supported us the best that they could I was happy and satisfied with my life In our neighborhood, there were 10 children around the same age. We played we argued and we grew up together Our town was small but large enough for us to enjoy ourselves. I Remember our school which had many windows that from outside looked like mirrors It often gave off reflection of sunshine that made our school look like it was from gold We call it golden school In my happy town the songs of a bird stopped only when snow came But then for us children childhoods was even more beautiful in in winter in white snow cover town Enjoyed school. It was a big part of my life and I loved exploring and learning new things. I loved reading and writing After finish high school. I went to college and study mechanical engineering After that I got the degree in computer programming and I worked on a oil refinery as a computer programmer in Kabul and Fortran Computer languages. I was self-confident proud of myself and in 1990. I married my high school best friend Then in only one day my beautiful life changed in 1992 an evil named war came to my town and my country It came to destroy my village my country making my friends sad and scaring my family and me My beautiful town Became dark and frightening The sounds of singing birds and laughs of children were replaced with sounds of bombs screaming and crying My life and life so my family and friends changed Nights with books and TV were replaced with nights in basements Before the war I thought of basements as a place for storage for woods and sometimes for mice But the basement was the only safe place where the evil war did not come The mice inside the basement were not enemies The basements darkness was safer the light outside And the smell of humidity was better the smell of explosion outside My beautiful life changed in just one single day We listened the sound of bombs and explosion every day The town was full of soldiers and strangers with guns None of us knew who those strangers were and what they wanted in our town Nothing was us before Nobody trusted anyone else only one thing was necessary Which side were you on and what was your religion? School closed buses didn't drive work spaces were empty and people people were scared and hiding from each other Most of them had the same question as me. Why? Why us? The war that started in my country was a religious war My husband and I were two different religion Which meant we were supposed to be enemies and our parents were supposed to be enemies, too We had to choose to stay together flee Bosnia or or return to our parents on each other side With the support of our parents after a few months of living in a war darkness and fear we decided to leave Bosnia Two hours before the roads were closed I needed to choose between my parents and my brother's family on one side and my husband and the other side We only had two hours before roads would close again for tourists to leave a country So they were the most two Challenging hours of my life. I had to say goodbye to my family For me the most difficult was to say goodbye to my brother is one and a half years old son What will happen to him? When will I see him again, I felt like those questions were breaking my heart The pain I fell inside of me is something I will never forget as you see We fled Bosnia with the fear The only place we could go was the my aunt in Germany. We were stopped several times by different armies We were asked to get out of a car at that point our lives were in soldiers hands What would they do to us? Would they take me? Would they take my husband? Would they kill us both? Those thoughts were in our heads and we were scared to death We managed somehow to flee the country Wow Well, all that's another story We drove for two days. We didn't talk we didn't eat we only cried and cried until our eyes were so red that they burned We had only one wish to return home But we couldn't because we didn't have a home We lived with my aunt for first few months and decided to start life independently It was hard to find the rooms or apartment without speaking German We find a small room without without furniture 12 people lived in one house and shared the bath and the kitchen After we find a place to live we tried to find jobs for my husband, which is electrical job and for me computer jobs We tried to find a school to learn the language, but that was impossible Okay, sorry everyone we asked for help answer the same you are only a refugee The sentence we heard often Refugees need to be happy. We gave them a home We knew that but we also knew that we had to pay for the safe home And we needed a job and a food and we needed to send money back to Bosnia After we learned a little bit of German language from a street My husband find a job working outside as an electrician helper and me The only jobs I can get were cleaning toilets and floors peeling potatoes cleaning and ironing for German people Or any job the German people would never do I Knew I needed to work and send money to Bosnia to help our parents survive the war I Remember every day after I clean toilets I cry every day I felt increasingly disappointed and I felt like nobody I worked with people who were Uninterested in my story not interested in my name and didn't want to know who I was They only knew she's a refugee from Bosnia. I Wish to tell them how nice my country was before the war. I hope to talk about my computer programming job I wanted to by couldn't Because first I didn't speak language and also I knew they would not understand and they would not care So I chose to stay silent and do what I had to do Life was tough for us to Germany and more difficult for our families in Bosnia We worried about them. We send them money to survive the evil war the only way for us to know what was happening in Bosnia was through the radio and Sometimes a phone call from my or my husband's parents Every day we fear we will get the bad news Every day we listen to the radio and hope that our families were still alive We lived in Germany for long long five years In 1993 our first son was born in 96 our second son was born In 1997 all Bosnia refugees had to leave Germany as soon as possible and go back home Yeah, they wanted us to go home, but where was our home we didn't have a home Bosnia was separated by religion. We didn't want to separate So our little family decided to move to USA and It was scary and again Similar situation a new language and you struggle to find a place to live and again over and over again But this story has a different outcome In this country, I was able to use my college diploma Go back to school to take some classes and decided what I want to do with my life My husband also could do that and work on the same job that he did in Bosnia today. He runs his own business Our sons are 27 and 30 years old now successful and happy adults How did we get to where we are now? I may share that story with you some other time But today to conclude my story. I would like to share two major life pieces of advice From me to you first in life. You must fight Work hard and believe in yourself You have to love and respect yourself and when life goes downhill you have to find the strength to pick up a shadow pieces Look at yourself in mirror and say to that person in the mirror Yes, you can do it because I love you and I believe in you The second advice is this War and life tragic tragedies can rob you take it everything from you accept your education Your degree is what you bring with you. No matter where you go It is a key that will open the door of new successful life for you Thank you. Any questions for me guys Anything that you hear in the story you want to wonder? No Ask clarify Let's go we can do this we can have conversation Because I was a so into being a mom and Educated my own kids and be part of all that and then as I said education is a huge part of my life And they decided a UVM. They said I you have so many credits and math They thought well, I give a shot by first Was hired as a power educator just to see if I really like being around you guys And guess what I love that so there you go. That's why I became a teacher Yes Yes, a little bit less of As it was right at the end of the war But still if if we would ever decide to go back we would be living where my husband's family is or Where my family is two different region? And That's why what we had to leave Because every time when we were even in the basement together Soldiers were looking for my husband or if we if I would be in where his parents are the soldiers were looking for me So he was very dangerous at that time to stay together And I don't regret that we left together. I think we made a good decision in our life Yes No We go together. I always go every summer I go last It first lasted like four and a half years that didn't go but once I started going I would go I Think we can kind of go anywhere now in Bosnia, you know people are I don't want to say forgetting because you can't forget any something like that, but more acceptable, I guess That's how I will call By beginning it was a little bit sketchy to you know go Everywhere I guess and what's really interesting in Bosnia by first name, you know religion like if I have a name My first name is Gordana and that's more international name But my husband's name is Jasmine and everyone would know what his religion is so Most people have a name that would just quickly Are you Serb? Are you Muslim? Are you? You know Catholic like what religion? You in so Yes Yes, I talked to my mom on she knows how to use Viper Which is a way And I go every summer. I care about my mom and my dad. They both alive the 80 and 86 And I take care of them Yes Yes, my brother actually got shot in a war and Yeah, that was difficult, but we got him back so he's alive and happy and lives close to my parents Any other questions guys? Yes No, no In Bosnia in the middle school and high school like you have here Spanish and German and all this I actually did have English, right? and then when You work as a programmer, then you really know a lot of words like save move remove like the programming languages, but then you You don't walk around and speak like machine, right? so I Learned English from like scratch really and the words that we learned there in Bosnia. It's more like great Brittany than you know here American English. I Learned English very fast because I First of all, I like to talk but second of all, yeah, I have to join conversation somehow So and second of all, I think that there's something that it's not that hard for me And I like to read so I read a lot. I do will use grammar Lee That follows me everywhere and I love it. I love it. I just love it because you know what even after 20 years articles Are still like missing here and there, right? So But that's fine. You can't fix something if you don't know what's wrong with it. So I get it Yes They both speak language fluently they write and read because that was my number one goal In a in our household as soon they came from school The door entrance door was when you switch And you are back to where we listen to Bosnia music cook Bosnia food My son lives in New York and when he calls me and he speaks English with me, I know someone is around When he's alone, there is no question about being asked. We speak Bosnia They know a lot about religion all different religion. What's that family and what you need to? Call grandma for What holidays one grandma celebrate one holidays other grandma celebrate? I think they grew up as a very rich young adults knowing a lot and learn how to accept people no matter what so They're nice to people like I I'm proud of my boys They did go to Bosnia very often when they were little But then when they reach an age of these guys over here I was kind of scared to bring them there because they would go out and then Going out and Bosnia's bars and it's a little bit different than going here, you know, there's not that many I'm sorry, you know like yeah, so I Asked them to stay here and go on vacation in San Francisco somewhere like and I continue going to Bosnia alone or my husband And now they really kind of almost adults one of my son was two years ago He went to visit and My older one he didn't go probably six years in this. This is a year that he thinks he'll go So they know lots. I share a lot of stories and they Appreciate I wanted to teach them that they appreciate people for who they are good or bad nothing else Yes Yes, I do because we lived in Bosnia like maybe Ten minutes apart and I we would go visit and they my mom and his mom and you know They they stay friends and they were on two different sides and Which were created for them? I assume war was over. We sat together again and you know, so It's interesting, but sad sad sad Any worries really sad Yeah, so I Don't know. I'm I'm glad I'm here. I like being in the US. I really do And the difference between me living in Germany. I don't want to stereotype some people, you know like some other countries and they find and happy in Germany I was not and you hear here heard my reasons why I was not but But the first second day we arrived to US and I I remember I wanted to go buy What go we have to buy milk and bread and you know and I had a little dictionary no phones They can search and Google like quickly, you know a little dictionary English Bosnian and so sour cream was not in dictionary In all these ingredients I needed honey was not in dictionary And I'm like I really want and I like to cook and bake I really want to make that cake from my kid the honey cake So I walked in a supermarket. We were in Spokane, Washington And I'm not shy. I'm just like I'm I'm seriously not shy so I walked in and I'm like To one person who works they I'm like And and like all these like brown and sweet and I just throw on him like all words that describe honey And he looks at me and he's like and the only sentence I knew is I know speak English, right? I keep saying I know speak English But I'm thinking but I know what I want. So I'm not gonna leave until someone give me honey, right? So Then another person came and third person came and I'm like zzz and brown and honey and like sweet Everything described. I know honey. I don't I didn't know the word So then one person said like Like this to me and he ran and he brought me like this big Batch of honey, I think I had it for like three years really like for for that cake You need like few tables for you, but that's okay So then I was really happy. I accomplished something. So I went to pay for that honey and for a few other things and then I'm on a you know Wanted to pay and the lady started talking to me and in Germany at least what I experienced No one is talking to you my new own business that person mind their own business pay and go So she was talking to me and then I heard dress and I heard yellow and I heard son And I'm connecting these pieces and I'm like wait a second. She's talking about my dress I had a yellow dress on me and she's talking about outside is sunny So she's having converse. She doesn't even know me. That was like a shock for me I'm like first. I thought I don't have enough money. Then maybe I did something wrong Then I'm like, I don't know what she wants, right? and then she smiles and I'm like wow and I Had a one boy with me and other one in the car seat And you know, I'm holding all this with the honey and all this and then one person behind me Took the bag to help me with stuff and I'm like whoa look at this I came home and I could not wait to explain all this to my husband I we are in a place where people actually talk to you and they help you and they Smile on you. I love this. I love it. So that was a little piece of like Wow, wow, this is this is awesome. I can do this. I can do this. I can start over here But that the part that I talked to you about mirror I share this with my students over and over again I Used that image in a mirror so much when when I was in a Berlin, Germany and Nothing like no work. No gender. No, I don't know if they alive. I don't know anything I'm like I'm on a bottom of a bottom of a bottom like What do I do and? Seriously kids that mirror and that person Because I build that image of that person that I love that I trust Oh Main I got a lot of answers from that that mirror and that person that my best friend me and me Keep going keep fighting. It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay Many many times so it's not made up miss Paubert's analogy of a life. It's really That that me I connected myself with that mirror with that person who really always kind of put me on It's gonna be okay keep fighting keep working hard and Um, and that's that's why in my classes, you know, if you my students or if I had you or if I'm gonna have you Working hard is number one Not making excuses number two Go for it is number three That's all that we do the do the best that we can and I did best that I can and you know what I do feel the best I can't feel I have it all Health house Really nice husband Too healthy boys. I can't ask for more in my boss in my country. We're not kind of wood Do you all go now? Do you know where Bosnia is guys all of you? Yes How how long in a war how long we were ma maybe all together four and a half months in a war and That was like four and a half years Yes, we do We do we talk about How our lives would be like completely different and what would he do what would I do and We dated all high school and then we dated all college and we just Were meant to stay together and we are now married what I don't even know 32 years. I Just take this as my destiny and I would not change that for anything in my life It was hard, but it was worth all that. Yes Joy Yes In Bosnia if you a girl then you When you're 15 60 you got to learn how to cook. That's like you must you know You must know how to crochet you must know how to you know all the things and you know what fine I'll learn all that and I enjoy There is a specific Meal it's called Burak that you can eat in any restaurants in the Bosnia Where you have to make a very very tender like a phylo dough, but I'm making that phylo. I'm like Pulling all around my island and then you put meat or cheese and your roll and you eat and that takes time, but that brings that that like Joy of That dish is just what I would eat if I'm there now in some good restaurant and I Cook a lot of different food like I really like to explore but you know cakes or cookies that my mom taught me how to make definitely I make I Still learn from my mother a few days ago I couldn't make a cornbread that she makes and the way how she makes so she was with me on a They call it Weber we call a wiper on on FaceTime and she was like no no no no you don't do that No, you do that. No no now mix that and so it was an interesting situation But you know in one hour I got it all back, you know, you know, it was not like my mother's so But that's okay This summer I'm going to probably from July June or July Maybe five weeks to spend with my mom and dad And and every summer I would go and make sure they have a woods for winter that they go see doctor I set up all appointments when I'm there. I drive them there. I drive them there. I drive her to spa I drive like I I do so much for them that I do not want to regret anything when they one day gone, so I I Enjoyed that a lot. So Thank you so much guys for listening and being so like yes I'm not scared. I just have that emptiness of my friends are gone. Everything is gone They are still buildings that you can see the world was in Bosnia. So I just feel sad that the war that didn't have any purpose at the end took Maybe five ten years of people's lives like I I wish I wish it didn't happen and I wish I stay home and But then again, you can't change your past what I could do is focus on the future and that's what I do Thank you for asking for gonna a few questions to break the silence. I appreciate that No problem, thank you for listening so I'm gonna pass this around and Please take a look at it it shows you some wooden synagogues and you can just look at the back cover if you want it just shows the different designs and They're actually very interesting take you welcome to leave through while I'm also talking But I just wanted to see some of the back cover ones because they're very very interesting So welcome to the Los Mule project. My name is Aaron Goldberg. I've been working in Los Mule project since 1986 The mural was sealed behind a wall in 1986 in an old building Which was this building? This is high-autumn synagogue and this space here. That's covered with snow is a slate roof and What you see here is the back side The the outside of the slate roof and what you're looking here is the inside of the slate roof. Yes It's one of the few that's left in the world that is right that is right So but if you can imagine the if you can imagine flipping this So this is the outside covered with snow. You're looking at the inside of it. It's painted by this gentleman His name is Benzion Black. He is an immigrant from Lithuania It's painted by him in 1910 Inside of that synagogue building the high-autumn synagogue Benzion Black comes to Burlington in 1909 he spent six months painting the painting He gets paid two hundred dollars for six months of work. That's about five thousand dollars in today's dollars That's a lot of money in 1910 Benzion Black is a very interesting man. He is a poet. He is a playwright. He's a musician He plays mandolin. He teaches a group of children like you young kids how to play mandolin as a mandolin band He is a he believes that Yiddish should be this the language spoken by the Jewish people as opposed to Hebrew He has an enormous Yiddish record collection which at his death goes to the University of Vermont Some of his poetry we have some of his poetry UVM has he also has a very large library of almost five thousand books It also goes to a Montreal Public Library He also collects postcards of life Jewish life and traditions and ceremonies and holidays and festivals and And those postcards collections we have half and UVM has half and some of them are on display on our other case the what you're looking at is his depiction of a story and the story is of the biblical tent of the Tabernacle and when When the Israelites are freed as slaves from Egypt they wander for 40 years in the desert if you remember some of your story and at that time every night they erect a tent of the Tabernacles which holds the Ten Commandments and This mobile tent is meant to be God's space a central space a central space for We need one more chair so they They have this tent and the 12 tribes then camp in Exacts geographic locations in relationship to the mobile tent of the Tabernacles now It's really interesting is that only the high priest could go into the tent So why do you think black might have painted it like this with open curtains? Mike Anybody yes, if only if only the high priest could go. Why do you think he did it now this way? Yeah Yes to show others what might have been in it And maybe he's saying that not maybe that maybe it's not just with a high priest anymore Maybe all of us can go into the into the tent of the Tabernacles And that's how we have been thinking about this and conceiving about it as the lost mural in this community this is an open tent and the there's great symbolism and having an open tent and the the colors that you see are blacks depiction of the exact language of the book of the Deuteronomy and the book of Numbers and it talks about the the tent being made with with poles that carry it with our wooden acacia wood poles and black then substitutes those for marble columns which are an allusion to the temple in Jerusalem and but it talks with great specificity about the red blue and purple curtains that you see and The I also want to show you why you're looking at an object that's 6,500 pounds standing The mural itself if you look at the top if you have the bottom corner on the left here See it's about a half an inch of plaster on the wood On this side and then on this side So it's extremely fragile So it takes an enormous amount of people to figure out how to move the mural, but if you had been moving from the biblical times to Forward for thousands of years Jews are all over the world and they're building their synagogues sometimes of stone sometimes a brick But mostly of wood because wood was the most common and inexpensive Element in nature for them to construct with and so in the 17 and the 1800s you would have found hundreds and hundreds of wooden synagogues Many of them with interior paintings mostly in Eastern Europe including Poland Croatia Lithuania Latvia Hungary Czechoslovakia and other countries in Lithuania alone the center for Jewish art in Israel tells us that there may have been over 700 wooden synagogues of which 500 are estimated to have paintings now. There's one left There are several replicas. There are a few that are that have been moved to other locations But they are mostly you're looking at one of the one of the authentic Lithuanian artistic culture on historical heritage survivors The how do we know about these that these about these synagogues if they if they were burned or they were destroyed so There are a few people who are artists or Architects or photographers depending upon their time and place in history and they documented these so we have written We have written details from some people as to having seen what these paintings consisted of Between World War one and World War two There were there was a painter and an art and an architect and a photographer who found some of the drawings for these and actually documented hundreds of these and And many of these in Poland and Eastern Europe were painted with great joy They they had animals they had symbols and they're they're designed to be a showcase as to make a Divine space to convert. It's a divine space into both a joyful space in a joy and a space of celebration so perhaps black is with his Saying with it remember who's coming out of the theater Maybe he's taking some of his theatrical sense and his colors and he's used while he's using his biblical colors He's also celebrating the fact that he is now in a place where he can celebrate freely He can worship freely. He can teach his children whatever language. He wishes he can vote He can and and in the and remember beginning and say the 1850s and 60s in Lithuania where he was There were extraordinarily Difficult pieces of legal legislation long before the Nazis took power people would not Jews could not travel freely They could not worship freely. They could not teach their children language They were prohibited from entering most occupations Their children at the age of 12 their male children were drafted for a period of 25 years force conscription Which could then that term that and then there that term could then be extended by another term at the discretion of your commanding officer so he is perhaps reveling in this idea of an immigrant being free here and He does work and he does write and he does compose and he he finds two Yiddish Book centers or language centers. He writes in the Yiddish magazines. He is teaching. He is he loves theater He's bringing theater down from down from Montreal and up from theater up from New York And so this is the only mural that he paints. He's a sign painter in Burlington He for those of you who know where the Daily Planet is or behind old old tortilla. I think that little alley He has a business there in Center Street and he paints Signs all kinds of signs both letters and symbols. So, you know fruit and fruit baskets for fruit companies and Maltec cereal girl for an old old advertisement for for for a Maltec cereal and The Green Mountain bus lines and he does many of the of the professional signs for doctors dentists lawyers He works in a state house, especially his gold leaf if you look very carefully You'll see gold leaf all through the mural wherever you see the yellow and the oranges you'll see gold That's that's also blended in So it's really amazing that this is here because in and the mural also It's not as this this incredible artifact from our Jewish artistic heritage But the fact that it's here and the fact that it survived in Burlington is also amazing so it's painted in 1910 the Building the building stops being used as a synagogue in 52 It's used for many many businesses by 1986 the only thing that's part left of the mural is this part and so we take slides of it in 1986 thinking that we're never going to be able to get it do anything with it and in 2013 the building is sold again And so we have the opportunity to start thinking about moving it So we have we get a huge very large crew of people and we figure out a plan to move it There's great video of its move in 2015 And then we also you know, but we didn't know at that time that Covid would hit when Covid hits while it's a plague on mankind. It's kind of another really interesting Miracle for the mural because the building is sealed so the conservators can work on the mural in 2019 and 20 and get it All cleaned of all its grime and charcoal dust and dirt and then in 2022 they another team of Art restorers come in and they they finish painting about 12% of the paint needs to be restored So it is truly a miracle and it's moved. It's actually lifted in its steel case seven times to get to this To get to this location. So where you're seeing it now This is where the men would have been in this room and they would have been looking up it at this level and the women And children would have been in a back gallery at the second floor level looking right at it And when you go in the next room take a look you'll see you'll see symbols of the lions lions in Judah You'll see them in the Ark that I've left open for you to show you how an Ark looks like in the other room And you'll also see a crown Which is this pre the symbol of the priests of the high priests You'll see that as on the crowns of Torah scrolls and You'll see that in the Ark So if you've if you've been in that room yet You've seen what what they what the typeface what it looks like and scribes spend the entire time Scribing those those letters one by one This kind of shows you the image of the Ten Commandments, which is in the Torah and then in there You'll see the Torah scrolls itself Any questions? Feel free to stand up and take a look behind the mural you can see how the steel frame is welded You can see this is actually the wooden beams here To move the entire roof structure We had to move the entire roof structure in order to save this half an inch of plaster because we couldn't get the plaster off of the Lab board The move was what the move was one morning. It took about five hours to move it. It was scheduled for 13 hours, but it wants I'm 6500 so it actually weighed more than there was another floor that went from corner to corner I went from this corner to this corner so they wouldn't move like this and that added another 1200 pounds and there are pictures of that In the other room too if you look up on the display case and you go in that room at the top of it There's pictures on top So it's it's pretty astonishing not not a crack. It was it was movies great precision I'm sorry Yeah, it is it's good not the miracle of the mural. It's it's quite amazing In fact, it was moved to such position There was a little nail that was in that was not nailed in that was literally just resting from with dirt and dust On one of the wooden beams on the back of it and it was not covered by the steel that nail was moved seven times and We found it after we had lifted this up So there was not jostled at all and it was you look online and see pictures and actually in the other room too And I can show you this one too. How you'll see I'll pass these around if you look at the top If you look at the top left picture here You'll see that the mural was it's got wood and pillows in front of it You could take it second pass around Yeah top left To make the mural it took him six months and to and to do the plan to get it to move here. It took a year and a half Because we on it We had to build a building around the other building in order to work on the mural from the front in the back And in this room we had to put an I beam in the ceiling and We had to knock out the doors and the windows in order to bring the steel case in and then we had to lift it With chains to get up to its current height But you're in a room that's designed as a museum now. So all the electronics that are on that back wall that they measure the heat the humidity air conditioning in this room 24 7 and Because the mural needs to be very carefully monitored for temperature in the room It's now apartments. It was it was converted to apartments in 1986 after being used to synagogue from 1889 to 1952 There was there was when I was you remember that so when I was in high school the building the building the last business That was in the building was Harry will carpet master And everybody used to go get their rolls of carpet or remnants from Harry will carpet master So if you were going to college you would go down to Harry will to get carpet remnants for your room to take to college So I Jeff and I remember going into the building now Yes Yes, it's this is a this is a this is now acknowledged as an international artistic Remnant and and piece of memory and so it's it's not just a Jewish symbol of survival. It's a symbol of artistic survival We have had people come from all over the world. It's pretty cool And we've also been doing zoom events around so we've had we have so we do zoom events And we've done zoom events in Lithuania in Israel in We have speakers to speak on behalf of the mural besides Jeff and myself, so we have historians What I'll run you through is a couple of the objects here just to sort of express Something that I think will become self-evident and that is that we cherish Objects that remind us where we came from and who we are. It's just our culture We are we see ourselves having been Sort of lifted on the on the proverbial shoulders of giants and the stories I'll tell you really reflect what I think our actions by giants so before I get into the story that Ms. Harris has talked about which is the story of the Holocaust I want to talk a little bit about the origins of this community and give you a sense to Yeah, yeah and So what I want you to think about is this The original people who came to Burlington the original Jews who came to Burlington in the 1870s and 1880s Were people who were escaping persecution in Eastern Europe? Specifically this contingent was from place in Lithuania small community small small area They came they escaped Remember, and I'm sure you you've you've learned a lot about this But the Jews in the seven 1870s and 80s were be finding themselves subject to attacks by the czars Cossacks and by others and the more than half of the the Jews in Eastern Europe escaped to America And these were some amongst them and they came to Burlington initially because they came from a small village a shtetl They wanted something that was similar to what they had left behind. They weren't Trying to run away from who they were they were trying to find a place where they could continue to be who they were and Burlington looked a lot like the village they had left behind with a river There was the river and the fields and everything that really was remarkable to them Now the reason they came to Burlington is that they had many of them had operated as peddlers they came to this country with nothing and Typically what they did is they acquired some objects. There was a peddler's supply shop They would get thread and needles and anything that they could go and Basically walk around any area around the state and try and sell or to acquire Any number of things on Friday nights because they were orthodox Jews their tradition Dictated that on Friday nights. They assemble Ten males was the rule at that time. They assemble to pray and they came to Burlington because a gentleman I'll north the Winnowsky Avenue a French Canadian cabin make a coffin maker Allow them to come on Friday nights and use his facility so that they could make prayers So what I want to point to you in terms of objects here is the fact that while these people Escaped with next to nothing they carried things that really mattered to them and some of those things we this we've illustrated here Because they were things like candlesticks at the beginning of Sabbath on Friday night They had to light the candles at the end of Sabbath on Saturday nights. They had to light a twisted candle for a Service and they had to smell spices to remind them of the beauty of life as they returned To the world after Sabbath was over. They had prayer shawls. They had prayer Items and all of that stuff here that I want you to look at comes from Europe It belonged to them and so we don't forget it. It's a reminder that they Were extraordinary But the story is Ms. Hearst told you is really the story that I want to tell you and that is the story pertaining to that hutch in the back now that hutch came from Germany Specifically the black forest area was built in the 1930s and it belonged to a couple by the name of Harry and Irene Kahn You can see Harry as a young man on his motorcycle So it's a German couple who were basically recently married and young but they were about to experience something was truly traumatic in the 1930s and that is from their small village in In the black forest town of Rexingham They experienced something called Kristallnacht in 1938 in November Which was the beginning for all intents and purposes of the Nazi attempt to eradicate to erase Jews And what Kristallnacht was was a nationwide endeavor inspired by the Nazis to have German people come out and burn Synagogues and burn Jewish businesses and attack Jewish homes and basically terrorize the Jewish community that Harry and Irene were part of that in their little village and that synagogue which when you walk over there and you look at That synagogue was burned wasn't destroyed, but it was burned And all of the objects therein were taken out And we're we're just dispensed with some were burned some were destroyed some some disappeared Well, Harry and Irene after Kristallnacht went back to their home sort of sat and Did some serious thinking two nights later a knock on the door Harry opens the door and it's a policeman But the good news is that it's a policeman that Harry knew and it was a gentleman who said as I was cleaning up the remnants of your synagogue. I came upon Something that had not been destroyed but had been thrown in the gutter and I wanted to know if you wanted it The object in the center of that hutch is called a Torah It is the sacred five books of the Jewish Bible It contains the story of the creation of the world and Adam and Eve and it progresses to the death of Moses Equally important it contains all of the laws the the rules to be a Jew is to be you know How to be kosher how to set up your synagogue how to pray how to all of that is contained within that sacred piece That piece incidentally is handwritten We have scribes who write that and it's done on a piece of animal skin parchment They're very Important to us. You will see a Torah if you go to a synagogue anywhere in the world You will see a Torah in an arc because it is as we see it the divine It's the word that Moses was given from God that explains What we're and how Judy Jews are supposed to behave so needless to say Harry took the Torah and As he was going and this is a year later in 1939 They were escaping Germany as conditions worsened. They'd gone to Amsterdam. He had a friend He gave the Torah and the and the silver Wine cup and the friend so we were instructed hit it from the Nazis Don't forget Amsterdam and and Holland was also Had been taken over by the Nazis Eventually after the war was over Harry came back and he got that he had relocated in Burlington, Vermont He had become a member of the congregation He was a professor at the University and he gifted us those two objects and we really cherished them and Eventually the hutch came to this country as well after the 1940s and it's also become part of what who we are But there are two other objects that I draw your attention to I want you to look at it I wanted people I'm going to shut up real quick So two objects I'm going to reference real quick and I want you to look at that or that or whatever you want One object is a book. It comes from Germany. It was published in Germany in 1892 It was given to us by another couple who described the book burnings in Germany that they remembered that the Nazis Conducted because the Germans again wanted to erase all Judaism from the face of the earth And so all Jewish books were taken out and burned This one survived again. It's a survivor. We we really we love it The final piece on the far left is an interesting piece It's another spice box, but it is an extraordinarily elaborate piece that belonged to a very wealthy family in Czechoslovakia by the name of their bowers and I Bought bower so the block bower family basically When the Germans took over Czechoslovakia they confiscated an abundance of Jewish wares one individual in particular We learned later hydric from the SS was taking Important objects pieces of art silver anything and basically was storing them for his own personal possession When the war ended eventually this particular piece was found and it was Ultimately auctioned off and one of our congregants bought it So what I want you to appreciate is that that is our celebration that is our acknowledgment of the Holocaust I leave you and I want you to look at this stuff But I leave you with the notion of why do we why do we preserve all of this stuff? Why don't why do we sort of hold on to it and and hoard it and the X answer is because it's a part of who we are I mean it's in our hearts. It's Part of how we see ourselves From those people who started, you know having escaped and made something of themselves to the people that didn't To the people ultimately that will your generation and generations to come who will keep it alive So enough of me. Take a look at stuff. Ask me questions. And however, I can be helpful. Hello, everybody I'm very honored to be here to be given this opportunity to speak with you and to be honest, you know Just listening Bashir of our former speaker. It kind of you know, I Felt Exactly or almost like similar to mine Before I began to my stories. I want to say that my name is Noor Bolle and I was born in Somalia but because of the civil war my family flee from the country in 1990s at the time I was just a baby. I don't know anything about Somalia. I grew up in Kenya refugee came in Kenya and In that in Somalia we lost Two of my siblings there during the war because normally when war begins, you know, there's a lot of things that happens and in the refugee camp where we Stated for a decade We stayed in two different refugee camp, but in the dark is where I spent most of my childhood in there Life was very difficult Extremely difficult. So a lot of the time when we hear refugees You know people don't really understand it. They just see people but the Fiji normally is a people who flee from a country Where they were just like the live were very stable and then they were just forced because of for some reasons and In that the dark camp where I grew up You know, we didn't have any access to clean water. I I access to food proper shelter health care It was just a chaos but you know The one thing that I continue of that in that camp was a concentration camp to be honest because there was no any opportunity but then Later on after living there for many years You know the uncertain future that we have I Remember that, you know people from the western country coming there like Australia United Kingdoms USA French government come there and then They start process process means that They want to know the parent I don't want to know the families or the people that live in there and their situation You know, and that process goes money money days or months to do it While that process is going You are not allowed to go out of refugee camp because you might miss opportunity Like I mentioned earlier because the life in the refugee camp was difficult so many people like fled or Went to somewhere in Kenya cities to just work earn something for their family because a lot of times like People that depend on the UNSCR The United Nation High Commissions the food that they provide and the food that they provide is not enough For a families to sustain to be honest They will if like example if you're like a Family of three so each person will get maybe They use kilos there we use pounds here, but they use one kilo of maize One kilo of flour one kilo of Porridge a cup of oil Maybe one onion and that's about it no meat no milk none of that and that you are supposed to stretch it to 15 days And and which is very impossible to do it So in that process when that process is going on Is nothing's guaranteed So you will go through everybody will go through the process, but nothing guaranteed. It's not you're not guaranteed to be Given the opportunity to fly to you know to french or or or friends or or america or You know the kingdom or australia, but there's a few family might be lucky to go there every time It kind of reminds me Black friday, you know black friday where you know we it happens once like a year and people go there and like You know get whatever they want and eventually that's about it. You have to wait the next year again Sorry, i'm getting called from the school So yeah, um So that's what it reminds me which is not really fair to treat a human being that way, you know People will come the government will come they come with the process You know And that process sometimes you will go through with different, you know Sectors and then at the final process where you do your medical exam It does like the final process you will do your medical exam and once you pass the medical exam Then you will be getting a ticket to fly to that whatever country, right? But sometimes Even though you may get a ticket to fly to different countries They might just tell you that oh, we sorry we're not really taking any We're not we can't take you we have to hold it back because there's a war going on in the country right now We have to wait or maybe there's election going on but once that happened Most people when they get a flight they give everything that they have to the neighbors So they have nothing left A lot of people get traumatized by that Like there was I have a witness but there was like rumors going on that people hang themselves for that reason because they have nothing left So it's very like very very sad so My family and I We stayed in the refugee camp in the dub for 10 years And then after that 10 years for example, they told us that it's time for you guys to fly So we adjusted there for me. I adjusted because I didn't know nothing else. That's where I knew That's where I grew up. I was there since I was a baby. So that was like everything that I knew and We finally get a process we were we were brought to a place Or another camp called kakuma kakuma refugee camp where there was Millions of refugees leave there like just so many refugees from everywhere from sudan Electric tobya somalia everywhere kongo Just too many people. It was so diverse In the dub, there was not many people like that. There was not it was not as diverse There was a maybe two blocks. We call them blocks or sections of Sudanese people leave There was too many Somalias Somali people live there Somalia and Somalia and two people live there And a little bit of itobians and not not that much But in in kakuma, it was just large. It was large and the people that lived there They were struggling more than we were struggling So in that camp we spent two more years In two more years there That our parents didn't know where to start where to begin. So I remember that my brother and I We start making bricks For families and we sell them for one shilling each brick. You make everything yourself. It's just from the sand They're right nice rich, you know soil there so you can make bricks And my brother and I we start doing that to just you know, uh contribute into the uh into the family We did that for Some quite some time and that kind of brings some, you know food into into the table But the thing is that After just living there two years, we got a process to fly to America We were so excited I remember The thing is that What they do is that we already we already went through a process in the car in in the dump But in kakuma, this was the second process. So what they do is they select one person from your family It doesn't matter how old that person is In this case in my family it happened to be me That was like the last thing my mom wanted To be selected me because I was just more like, um I was more like a independent person but more like more like, um, I would say, um Made my decision myself most of the time like I was I was different from the rest of my family like for example I was not going to school there because the school there's Way different than the one that we go here over there There was a physical discipline and I don't like stakes. I'm not good with it So in and I figured out something that you know during the school day I just Go to the market where there was so maybe everybody comes there to watch tv a movie And then when the students was released, I used to go home exactly on time. Don't do that. That's what I used to do but don't do that, right so, um They selected me And then they only wanted me And then the whole family come with me, but they can't get in there. They're just waiting. They're just like they were so vulnerable They're just like waiting outside to hear the news because you can one single mistake I make that's it Like the flight will be cancelled, right? So I went in there And then there was a one black american that works for the ins He was there and the table. He had a somali interpreter and then So when he saw me he was already doing paperwork. He was already doing paperwork And when he was doing his paperwork, I was so nervous shaking standing like this like I remember like yesterday And then the interpreter was asked to just leave And that made me even more nervous because I I was not I didn't know how to speak english at the time so And then This guy was just looking at me doing all the paperwork and he says if you go to america, what are you going to do? Of course, I understand that I was always I used to watch america movies like john ramble That was my favorite movie back then So I say football And it's cool. That's it. There was no any sentence follow with that, you know football And football meant not american football soccer, right soccer So we call it football football and school. I said he says he says, okay, you're done and i'm standing there I don't know what he's talking about. I'm just there standing. He says no, you you're done. You're good to go And then because he was feeling everything was handwritten that back then it was not any computer So everything was handwritten and then he left he said up and he says you're good to go And I left and then I told my parents. They're like, no This is impossible. You know, they were confused that I know this now it doesn't make any sense Like I don't think we are going to america now. It's all done. They were confused. They were worried And I was just like I was nervous myself. I I thought I made mistakes there I was not I was not sure but three days later we get our flight out. They were excited So we were we flew to Calcumero VG came to Nairobi. This is in 2004 From Nairobi to New York City From New York City to Vermont and then we came here. We finally made it here and then that's when I Promised my mother that I would be learning school I would be going to school and I would be good at students and I started as a freshman here at BHS And then at the time of course English was a problem, right? I speak two other language and two and a half language. I speak I was fluent in Somalia and my my Also a little bit Swahili. I didn't go to school to learn Swahili. I was just I just learned in the streets And that's the beautiful of you know, that's the beauty of diversity, right? You just learn things without even trying So when I came to BHS I don't know anything where to start And we started as you know English second language learners Ms. Placent was my first teacher that I met there. She's sitting right there right behind you And I know that you know at the beginning of the school Everybody's having fun Socializing I'm just standing like this and I remember Ms. Placent came right next to me It's standing with me like this to company me, you know, and I needed that time. I just didn't know how to express that back So there from there I start going to school. Um, I start to speak English very fast because I was in university soccer, you know team It was not a problem in speaking English. I catch the language very quickly and Later on I start to learn how to write as you know, if you if you like I missed the 12th year of Language, so as you know that I don't know what elementary is kindergarten is What do you call it middle school is I I have no idea what that is. I never experienced so freshman was my first like, you know a Formal schooling so as you know the struggle there. I had to work very hard And then 2008 I graduated and I noticed that, you know, um, I was not ready to go to college I was not ready to go to college. So what I did um, I signed up for ccv I signed up for ccv and I took like non-college graded classes For a whole year and after that I took what is called aqua place a test But to begin like to be honest like I was very good at soccer player a bhs And I had a dream to go to uvm to play for them But because of the sc t test I could not pass And they told me that that was required So some of my, you know teammates who are on the bench end up going to uvm and playing, you know following their dreams That was the saddest thing that I you know, I can you know, uh look back at it because uh, you know, I understand how Powerful education can be So but when I went to ccv Um, I I I stated there for a whole year. This is non-college graded classes By the way, I know that money students will not don't want to do that So after that I took a aqua place a test the aqua place a test will tell you if you're ready for college So I I I did very well on that My teachers they did a referrals and what I need to take what class I need to take next So I ended up the northern university of um, uh, northern university of amont Where actually I played soccer. I had an injury first year, but I was the rookie of the year there as well and um from there Uh, you know, jesse was the head coach back then in a uvm. He contacted me. He's like, hey, you are doing great We won you at uvm But then I fall in love at that college, you know, northern university the coach was really amazing guy He was checked on me. He always send it out, you know, uh the team captains to help me with my homework I you know, I put my education first and I thought that was the best at the time for me I said no, I want to stay here. I want to just continue playing here and focus on my education Because I didn't want to be a uvm. Not, you know fall behind. So I stayed there. I decided to stay there one of the things though that really, um That made me Very very proud was that When I went to, uh, northern university I know that at least Ms. Pleasant will know this but maybe 18 students graduated in 2008 And those 18 students that graduated I remember that I was the only one who went to college from our community at the time and and 2012 I got my associate degree in health science And this was amazing because I always because I was always into the sport. I wanted to do Uh, I wanted to become a physical therapist. That was my dream always Since then I had a lot of injuries as well. I had ACL injuries and all that stuff So I wanted to focus on those dreams. So when I graduated I remember the whole community coming there Because to be honest my parents thought that if you graduate from high school that was it There was not anymore things to do. So this is something that I advocated for myself I learned that there's a college. There's a like, uh, you know university out there That education continues. It doesn't stop, right? So I went there. I graduated and it was the whole community came and That was a door for everybody else in our community. Even though I was the first We have at least like hundred students in our community right now that went to universities That are doing social works that their teachers everywhere That's like just a door. We have police, cops, nurses So our community has grown. I mean, I this America right here in Vermont I live in for 20 years. This is like this place right here is the longest I ever been 20 years. You were not born, right? So I'm more American than you So, yeah, um the thing is that education is very powerful And you know, even though that our parents lived in a comfortable life in Somalia, but they lost everything Uh, many people lost their life You know, there was not like they they didn't shy to Restart again life, right? We continued to live and to exist in this world What I want to say is that you know in this life Only you can stop you Only you can stop you if you want to do something in this life As as as long as the positive things you have nothing to lose. That's one thing I learned And even though I'm talking to you right now I'm a still a student. I take class neurodevelopment disability class through Vermont Land University. I take that class right now and I have kids wife and Work, I have three jobs VHS is one of my job, but I have two other jobs I also do, you know mental health screenings and um, someone who just learned English here Walked hard and um Uh went to college, but then at the same time not just that I was given opportunity To do screenings mental health screenings substance use screenings As per is what I do screening brief interface Interversion referral the treatments. I happen to be given a you know, uh to go to North American health refugee conference in Toronto I went with uh, dr. Mercedes Avila and also dr. Green here and I was able to Give a speech to You know people that hold the doctors, you know why because My story is different than theirs A lot of the time like we want to be someone right? We want to be someone else other than us But what we don't understand that everybody's unique You have your own story You're important. I felt like and I believe that the reason sometimes is um, society is falling apart is that money of us Money of us want to be someone else or money of us like you have a dream and somebody tells you that you cannot do that You see I was very stubborn kid like when people tell me that I cannot do that. I cannot achieve that I just Make sure that I proved them wrong I walk hard it motivates me Today I know if my kid I said he cannot do that. He will believe it So it's very important. You tell me I cannot do that. I'll show you I'll do that It's a different right. I grew up in a different world But I want to tell you funny story Before I give you a chance. Do we have time? Okay, told him it's never enough when I tell you stories So I have funny story I think that I feel that like for me To stand in front of people and talk is like it's like it's just part of me I wanted to do that before I even speak in English I wanted to tell the story to american people before I started speaking english fluent It's pleasant my witness 2008 I wrote an essay for the graduation Right, but I was not very popular in the school. So not I don't think many people voted for me to stand in front of But Ms. Blasen was always genius and I you know, I'm very grateful about her. She read my essay. She edited And she says no, I have you know, I have an idea. So tomorrow's graduation day Today's Friday. We'll go to North Beach. North Beach was beautiful, you know, June is always beautiful there We'll go there and I make sure that I bring everybody all the years You know students, they will be there and you will give you a speech there and I said, of course I will love this So we went there. I give my speech there But one of the things that is stuck in my head that I still remember today Is that me saying that I have a dream Someday I I really come back to be a chess and teach I did not know I did not know like what I wanted to teach But I know that I was inspired by the modern letter king day to say I have a dream But you know what dream does come true though because I did come back to be a chess And I had the chance I had the chance to teach my teachers About my culture About the Somali culture How we do things The african time if you hear that I'll tell you if I tell you like hey, I'll meet you there 10 o'clock. That means I'll meet you there 11 That's that's what you know these things like I had to teach the like the teachers You know sometimes, you know, uh, you have to be patient with this You know because time means nothing to us when you leave in the refugee camp. There's nothing you can do There's not a lot of opportunity But over here You have a lot of you know opportunities like if you tell like Nudin today, I'll meet you there. Sorry You tell him I'll meet you there 10 o'clock. He will meet you at 10 o'clock there Because he understands the importance of time He's a student Right. He learned we grow right but guys That dream come through I'll be graduating at the end of you know this month. I'll be getting my certificate through UVM Thank you. Thank you I just want to say You know sky is the limit Don't let anybody tell you that you cannot do things you have a dream And and if you share your dream to somebody else before you begin They may discourage you right Make sure that You're asking somebody to help you with it. You say i'm doing this and I want to continue Can you help me with it? Don't say like you think it's a good idea if I do this don't say that I know some people will just say no, that's too much. How can you do this? How can you manage this? Well, I have a three job right now And I go to school and I have a kiss that plays soccer. They love it. I have to take them to soccer Every single day if we don't have practice they want me to take it outside play with them. I manage all those It's a doable You only feel like you can't do things because it's all about in our mind It's all about in our mind What I want to say that Garby said marco garby said that With the confidence With the confidence you're already Winning before you started so have confidence. I'll end it by there. Thank you Sure, they can Sure What one of the things I want to add is like last year I came here It was my first time. I know some students They send questions Always do that if you don't feel you know talking right now if you want that or if I made a couple of students Also, they were doing project. They come and meet me Always feel free. I'm always at the liaison office. Thank you Okay Tashi the lake Can you all say tashi the lake? Tashi the lake So like konichiwa, maybe like namaste, maybe like What is it new home? I don't know but as a Tibetan We say tashi the lake so Tashi the lake to all of you And it's a great honor for me to be here To be sharing this very precious time with all of you My name is mikhmat sitting I'm born in Tibet Let's say raised in India And now serving in United States of America My story is very simple But yet if you You know chase me With the right perception or perspective You might have Something to take with you, you know Take with you home after this discussion So we only have 30 minutes And time is very special Please be with me Please be with me 100% And I will take you To some kind of a journey Which is what I call The journey of my life So I was born in a small village called Thingri Thingri Is in the western part of Tibet So if I kind of try to you know Make a picture of that the life In Tibet when I was born Is something like this There was no Tape water There was no electricity There is a river flowing Right in front of the village And every living species Shares that river If I'm drinking water here A cow might be drinking water Somewhere up there Or maybe a yak might be drinking the same water up there So that is how we share the nature There is no trash or recycling or what do you call it Composed or anything like that Everything which which we use Will be reused And there is no trash So there is a very beautiful harmony or very beautiful balance Like even the human waste Or the cow dunks All of those things are also very very useful So we keep it in a Small house Store it for a year And when it's time for us to prepare the field We take it out to the field and menu the field So that's the village where I was born And then when I was eight years old Something happened and I have to leave my family my village everything And I have to come to India So long story short The most painful part was To say goodbye To know that you are not going to see them again for a very very long time And not to know what is going to happen with me without them I also remember the time when I was put under the seat of a bus My body was squeezed And it was very uncomfortable and painful But I cannot make any noise Because that time I was kind of smuggled Out through the border And that's the only way If I tell you a little bit About the background China invaded Tibet in 1959 And Tibet lost Tibetans lost Their basic human rights The rights to religion Rights to speech And then rights to education Since the parents know That the only way the kids can get educated well Is by just smuggling their kids Taking all the pain Making this very very difficult decision in their life So if you are wondering why he is being smuggled That is the reason And then By the grace of Dalai Lama We have a school in India Does anyone know Dalai Lama? Is there anyone here who do not know Dalai Lama? Okay So Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of all the Tibetans Inside and outside Tibet Dalai Lama used to be both the political and spiritual leader of the Tibetans But now that Dalai Lama is 86 years old He retired from his political responsibility And now he is the spiritual leader of the Tibetans But to Tibetans If I be frank To every Tibetan Dalai Lama is like a god It is because of him and his grace That Tibetans are able to start everything all over again Even in exile So whatever Monastery whatever school whatever settlement Whatever is destroyed in Tibet Dalai Lama took the responsibility To rebuild everything in India Now we have monasteries in India We have schools in India We have Tibetan settlements in India We have Everything that we used to have in Tibet Except the land So Dalai Lama is not an ordinary person to the Tibetans Now because of his grace I told you there is a school called Tibetan Children's Village And that school became my School and my home That is a boarding school I was 8 years old When I was admitted in that school And I have not seen my parents For 10 long years So that school When I first started since we are talking about resistance and resilience When I first started the first few days Are the longest and nights even more longer There is nothing you can do now Your parents are gone You are left there And if you think you have a choice you don't And then there are people who like you There are people who will not like you But at least you have food Shelter Clothing to start with Right So just like that I have started my new life And then slowly and slowly with all those pain like I used to always find a corner Cry myself out I used to hide under the blanket Cry and cry and cry because I was missing my parents my friends But that's the only thing I can do And after a while I got tired And then I say oh it's not you know I'm not gonna do like this now Then slowly Started making friends started having more fun Get yourself in to participate in soccer or basketball or volleyball And then after a while I saw myself flying I was actually living I was actually having fun So it takes a while But you always come out of it Then my school life was so much fun I didn't even know how 12 years passed by And then the time for me to leave the school came That school is not just a school for me. That's my home I left my own home. I found a new home Now it's time for me to leave that home and I have no clue About the outside world Frankly speaking And then After graduating class 12 I have to go find a college One college gave me full scholarship It is called the regional institute of education And that college is in uh southeastern part of India In a state called Orissa The capital city of the state is Bhupadeshwar And that's the that's where the college is So for four years So the same thing happens now you have to start all over again You are in a new place With new people this time All of your college mates are Indians And you are the only Tibetan So there is language barrier. There is cultural barrier There is new environmental You know adaptations that you have to make The place was so hot And my school was on a hill station So college life even if you don't do anything And with the fan Full going Still you sweat. That's how hot the place is And then since your friends are all Indians and you are only you are like a white crow They are all like staring at you You know and it was so uncomfortable that if I have a choice If I have a choice I might have left The food is different. Everything is different But I have no one remember My parents are back in Tibet And I have no one to go to And that's when you have to resist So I have to accept everything that is coming towards me And then start living it And start making it to your own And then the same thing happened. I was so surprised After one year I have friends And then I saw myself all over all over the college Competing with soccer games basketballs cricket Participating in cultural competitions And the one thing that I'm very proud is I started Tibetan dance In that college And I competed with the other states Of the indian Other states in the college And we stood second So now I mean One day at a time maybe weeks or months or years You get you you you kind of know how to live So four years Third year fourth year so much fun college life Doing all the crazy things And then again the time comes college life ends Time to get separated from the beautiful friends you made And now time to start a life another life So after finishing college I went back to Serve my own school And I started I was a science teacher for middle school And I taught class eight Class ten most of the time I also have to teach math Now that I was so proud I'm serving my school back I really got carried away But in between I met my wife And I have two beautiful daughters And then I thought this is it My wife was an accountant I was a school science teacher We had a good life And I kind of decided okay this is it this is my life This is now finally where I belong maybe this is it And then suddenly the call came From america My wife's sister She went to america long time back And now this is a family reunion All the paperwork are done And her time For the interview came And along with my wife I my name was there my daughter's name was there So all four of us we went With no expectation at all that we will get it I didn't even tell my friends when I went for the interview Because I have no expectation at all I know I'm doing this for the sake of her sister-in-law Who did a lot of work But that was actually that time impossible But for some reason all four of us Got okay to go to america And then now everything changed I do not know what's going to happen with us I thought we have a good life here Everything is going good And now it's time to go to america And then again you start over From zero And then it's been 10 years now More than 10 years I still remember those days My first few days I still remember the experience of being a keshir in walgreens I remember how How easily people get mad When you do not have the answers And how can you expect answers from me I just came from India I do not even know the word isle I do not know anything But holding myself in there Even though I have to call the manager again and again For help I was holding myself in there Because I have a family to serve And then days, weeks And then I learned Through that job I learned how Shopping is done in america And then I got a better job This was 7.25 That's how much I was paid per hour Seven dollars and 25 cents Being a keshir in walgreens And then I got a job for nine dollars I took that And that was in Hilton hotel Oh my god I was throwing chairs and tables like anything Those big ballrooms Sometimes you have to set it all by yourself Break everything down and set it up for the next event You are flying because you have you have a spirit that I have to start all over again You never get tired And like this I kept going like wherever I can find a little bit more money And I did try To convert my degree Not try I did it I convert the degree I have in India Here and I realize I have to Do american history and something else And if I do that I can become a teacher And I didn't do that Okay, I This is what I thought. Okay. I've been a teacher for 10 years Maybe I it's time for me to be something else So to cut it short It's been more than 10 years now in america And I do feel That I belong here now Okay But where do you actually belong? To just summarize everything If you ask this question, where do you actually belong? I was in Tibet I was there in Nepal for a little while I was there in india for a long time I'm here in america Also for a long time There is one thing common in all these There is water There is food There is shelter There is the air that we breathe These are everywhere And without these we cannot survive That's the common thing So to put it To make one single point out of this is It is the mother earth It is the mother earth Where we belong We all are part of the mother earth Even if you try to fly It's going to attract attract you back Whatever you do to it It always shows you love So mother earth Is the one thing that takes care of us It never gets tired And mother earth Earth is the only thing who can actually Teach us resilience or resistance or whatever So yeah, I think I think that's pretty much it So I what I want to say is We are all now the world is becoming small Right We know what is happening out there It's it's in our hands now So it's high time for us all to be the global citizens Think globally act locally Thalai Lama always says 20th century was the century of war who actually wanted Nobody 21st century should be the century of dialogue We communicate Okay, you can come down a little bit. I will come up a little bit in between. We will sort it out No more war So that's actually if that happens in the 21st century That's how we pay back to mother earth Because we are Not being nice We are not being nice in any way to mother earth And we are living in it So actually you are just Not you we are We are just killing ourselves slowly And we have to think about your children and your children's children so With this note I want to say I want to conclude here. I hope this is helpful Thank you One song Real time Okay, I will share with you This is a song