A Refugee In Salva's A Long Walk To Water

A refugee is a person who is being persecuted for their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion; refugees are everywhere around us and we don’t even know it. Salva, in A Long Walk to Water, was a refugee, and still is. He, along with many others, was a victim of the War in Sudan. He was fearful for his life so he had to flee his home and wound up in America, fulfilling his purpose by giving back to all of the people in Sudan, where he once was victimized. Like Salva, all refugees go through different stages when moving to another place, most common is having a hard time accepting losses and overcoming homesickness, but with help from many different people and things, they can get past this.

Leaving the airport felt like leaving his old life forever -Sudan, his village, his family . . . Tears came to his eyes.” (Park 96). When Salva arrived at what would be his new home, he was hesitant to leave the airport because to him, that felt like leaving his past behind, and that he could never see any part of it again. He didn’t want to let go of his past, but he had to. Later, author Linda Sue Park explained, “There were times when he (Salva) could hardly believe he was still on the same planet,” (Park 98). As Salva became more intune with his new home, it’s culture, and people, he still felt homesick, but sometimes, for homesickness to go away, you just need more time to completely adjust. Salva didn’t experience physical trauma which most refugees do, but he experienced very great mental trauma. Salva and

This happens for many other refugees too. In, A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, told “An idea came to him (Salva) - an idea of what he might be able to do to help the people of Sudan. ¨Could he do it? . . . How could he know unless he tried” (Park 107). Salva has found his place and now he has a mission to help those who also experienced what he had gone through too. Just like Salva, Til Gurung was a refugee that had found where he fit in, he used his experiences to make it possible for him to work towards helping other refugees find where they belong too. In Til Gurung’s speech he stated “Good afternoon, my name is Til Gurung. I am a Community Navigator Intern with Refugee Transitions. . . . I am a refugee from Bhutan. . . . By providing this language training and other support services through the Community Navigators like myself, Refugee transitions is filling a real need in our community” (Gurung). All refugees go through a state of mourning for their losses and they overcome homesickness, but some refugees go on to take their experiences and use them to help other people in