Iskashitaa Intern Ramy
Many people come through the doors of Iskashitaa daily, it can be quite a lively environment. However, Iskashitaa seems brighter and most hopeful when our intern Ramy is in the office. Ramy, who is a second year pre-law and political science student at the University of Arizona, has been interning with Iskashitaa Refugee Network for the past 6 months after being introduced to us by his sister last August. Since joining the team, the office is louder and more joyful, as Ramy brings in youthful excitement to Iskashitaa.
Ramy has helped Iskashitaa in numerous ways and interning here has given him unique opportunities to use the skills that he is learning in his classes. He speaks both Arabic and Turkish, which allows him to communicate with many of our refugees in their native language. Not only does this help close the language barrier we often meet at Iskashitaa, but this, along with his warm heart and kind demeanor, allows him to create strong bonds with multiple refugee and asylum seeking families. He uses his knowledge of law and policies to help refugees who might be battling legal trouble. Whether that be communicating with landlords about housing issues or helping a refugee become a US citizen. One of his greatest accomplishments while interning at Iskashitaa happened last summer when he helped rescue an asylum seeker from detainment. When recalling this experience, Ramy shared how heartbroken he was to find out that a single mother, who fled her home country due to persecution, was detained in a prison facility due to overwhelmed detention facilities. For weeks, Ramy worked tirelessly, communicating with ICE, and lawyers, trying to save her from this prison. After many weeks of an uphill battle, she was finally freed and brought to Tucson to be under the care of Iskashitaa. Ramy said he nearly cried from joy and relief when hearing the news.
Ramy has a special connection with refugees and Iskashitaa, as both his parents came to America in the year 2000 as refugees themselves. His parents, who sought refuge in America from Syria and Iraq, had to battle all the difficulties of starting a new life in a strange country all alone. This allows him to look at each refugee through a different lens, because he remembers his mother and father struggling to assimilate into American culture. His family is still actively aiding in the refugee crisis, especially with Syrian refugees, but for Ramy Iskashitaa has given him a personal connection to refugees. He states that interning at Iskashitaa has , “given [him] the skill to anchor himself in reality when he feels passionately about the refugee crisis… and navigate those feelings [in order] help people in tangible ways!”
His time interning here at Iskashitaa has allowed him to view his schooling differently as well. As a pre-law student, many class discussions revolve around refugees and the refugee crisis. With his experience working with refugees hands-on he has realized that, “many people who talk about the refugee crisis feel passionately about it, but are so detached from it.” This realization has pushed him to be a better advocate for refugees and help give refugees the tools to advocate for themselves. He hopes that more of his classmates will get involved in Iskashitaa, only if they are “willing to put in honest work and be caught up in the storm” and want to be “part of a whole!” Here at Iskashitaa, we are grateful that Ramy has joined our team; he plays a vital role in keeping the mission of Iskashitaa alive.