“I am a refugee,” said Joy K. Haugen, illuminated by a blue screen titled, “Looking Back While Moving Forward.” Born in Juba, South Sudan, Ms. Haugen’s parents made the decision to move: in fear of their children growing up in a war-stricken area as they once had. Her family travelled towards the direction of safety, while her extended family moved to a refugee camp in North Uganda. Her grandmother, in the midst of confusion that arose upon arrival to the camp, was isolated and alone. It was then that Ms. Haugen’s mother made the tough decision to send her to Uganda, at the age of 6, in support of her grandmother.
Her name was no longer, “Joy Haugen,” but, “Refugee.” She lost more than her name during the journey to Uganda; she lost her possessions; she lost her sense of security. “I use photos to resemble how I felt [at the time],” said Ms. Haugen, a slide of a child refugee with a mask of burden illustrated the screen behind her. Through the friendliness of refugees around her who noticed and could relate to Ms. Haugen’s evident feeling of confusion, she was able to locate the her family in the refugee camp.
When we think about refugees, or more specifically refugee camps, we think of health complications, and the fear of unknowing. Ms. Haugen is no stranger to both these scares, with a simple untreated wound that almost wound up to an amputation of her right leg, or the biggest scare of her life: Joseph Kony and his army. “I remember that [Joseph Kony’s army], being the most scariest thing I had to deal with while being in the refugee camp,” said Ms. Haugen, who remained prisoner to war. She was met by many hardships and a limitation in resources, yet Ms. Haugen surprised us, saying, “But I remember my life in the refugee camp, being normal. Adults in my life maintained a level of normalcy so that we could remain kids.” In a place of fear and intimidation, Ms. Haugen found Joy.
Like her mother, Ms. Haugen’s grandmother made the tough decision to send her to Kampala, Uganda in hopes of a reconciliation with her mother, and in fear of the potential danger from the increasing violence encompassed by Joseph Kony’s army. Five months later, with the help of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Ms. Huagen was on a flight to the Minnesota, U.S.A, accompanied by her family.
She faced another type of hardship in Minnesota; “We noticed right away how people feared us, to talk to us, to find out our story, and formed their own opinions on us,” she said. The media and influential figures in our society constantly share the opinions they hold behind their stories on refugees, without full understanding of their stories and emotions. Ms. Haugen took a pause, and with pain in her voice, continued to say, “We are just a hardworking group of individuals,” individuals who are always looking back to what they left behind.
“I want to share my story on behalf of my family who is currently living in a refugee camp in Northern Uganda, and on behalf of a woman I met who thought the world forgot about her.” Ms. Haugen expressed the importance of our power in making a difference in others’ lives, simply through listening to their stories.
The community that currently surrounds her knows her as a Global Concerns Service Officer at UWCSEA East’s service department, but not the moving story behind her incredible past. “I am urging you, asking you, to take the time to listen to the stories of refugees. Form your own opinion.”