In Their Own Words: How Three Change-makers Are Helping Refugees

The American Refugee Committee (ARC) is housed in a former warehouse in Northeast Minneapolis, but the scope of their work reaches around the globe. Their goal is to improve the lives of those who have fled their homelands because of war, or who live in unstable areas, by helping them to feel safer and more hopeful for a different future. They want to help refugees return to normalcy, if not the normalcy of their homeland, then at least some normalcy in the encampment they have fled to.

They do this by working with passionate people who are willing to forgo their own comforts in order to provide for others. "We have a belief that we live in an abundant world full of amazing people that want to help," Daniel Wordsworth, CEO of American Refugee Committee said of ARC's mission.

Recently, during their Changemakers Open House, ARC invited a number of the organizations they support to Minneapolis to share their experiences of what it's like to live and work in Pakistan, Congo and Syria.

The following three stories are but a small sampling of the type of people connected with American Refugee Committee. Abraham Leno, Cyma Ashraf and Roy Moussalli work with their "boots on the ground." They work in countries that are in need of people willing to put their lives, if not in risk, then definitely on-hold, to help make the lives of those in difficult political climates more hopeful.

The series In Their Own Words, of which this is the first installment, allows unique voices and perspectives from around the world to reach an audience they otherwise may not reach.

Abraham Leno has lived a life that could very well be made into a feature-length film. Abraham is from a loving family. His home in Sierra Leone was always filled with music. His family stressed the importance of education.

Leno lived a fairly typical life up until he turned 16, when a civil war broke out in Sierra Leone and prompted his family to flee home for neighboring Guinea. For more than 10 years, the Lenos lived the lives of refugees.

Sixteen years old. No home. An uncertain future. While Abraham didn't delve far into the specificity of his past, a conversation with him still gives you the impression that these years were difficult to navigate for myriad reasons.

In a moment that seems too amazing to be true, Abraham received a gift from a Dutch tourist who happened through the refugee camp out of curiosity. The man, whom Abraham has never met, paid for his college education. This was the spark Leno needed to get through those tough years and to inspire his life's mission to give what he could to those who have so little.

Abraham Leno now works with the American Refugee Committee. He travels to refugee camps, and he knows exactly how people living in the camps feel. Through his work, he is able to provide hope to those who are in need.

Learn more about Abraham Leno.

The headlines coming out about Pakistan routinely make readers think of the struggles the country faces. Cyma Ashraf wants to change this. She wants people think of the Pakistan she knows and loves: a country filled with kindness and hospitality, a country filled with caring people.

Ashraf is passionate about education and knows that. for Pakistan to flourish, something will need to change. Currently, there are more than 22 million children out of school. Nearly 70 percent of children in Pakistan have never been in school, a fact that sparked her involvement with the One Million Kids in School program.

The program aims to make school accessible to all, an objective that's accomplished by meeting kids and their parents where they are. They help make connections with organizations that want to collaborate and make education, and sending children to school, the norm.

Speaking with Cyma Ashraf, you can quickly ascertain that it will take motivated and connected leaders like her to begin to work with Pakistan's new government in an effort to trigger a renewed interest in childhood development and to begin to move the needle toward progress.

When thinking about Pakistan, Ashraf wants us to know that there are 200 million people in her county with 200 million stories.

Learn more about 1 Million Kids in School.

Roy Moussalli calls Syria home. And he's witnessed a lot. Some of it has been bad, "the worst one human can do to another," he says. Some of it has been good - and that's precisely the focus of his work. At the onset of the war in Syria, he watched people flee the country - but now they're coming back.

Daniel Wordsworth, the CEO of the American Refugee Committee says of his friend, Roy, "He looks like a kindergarten teacher, or the principal of an elementary school." A mere glance at Mr. Moussalli and you might find it hard to imagine that he has lived and worked in one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

Before the war in Syria broke out, Roy ran an organization that provided stability, resources and education to vulnerable children. But once war took Syria by storm, the organization changed course. Already in-country, already connected with others, the focus became broader. He is now helping Syrians returning to their homes with the most-basic of needs.

Beyond the headlines reported about Syria, Roy Moussalli wants people to understand that there are hopeful things happening in his homeland.

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