I originally wrote this article in May, 2018.

Life Raft International is an organization that empowers people to help refugees in Bangkok, Thailand (Life Raft, 2018). Life Raft started in 2011 and has had the privilege of lending a helping hand to hundreds of refugees in Bangkok. They use a multi-faceted approach to serving refugees through advocacy, education, and financial support.

Specific to education, a representative from Life Raft brings refugee children into schools (including some international schools) in Bangkok to partake in panel discussions with groups of students. This has been an eye-opening experience for both students and refugees. Students have been particularly affected by the stories of the refugees, some of whom are their age. Whereas, the refugees have their worldview expanded by witnessing the kindness and acceptance of the students at the schools in addition to witnessing the quality of the educational institutions that they enter. Witnessing high quality educational institutions can inspire refugees to increase their academic achievement in order to be eligible to be enrolled in the future.

The students at the schools represent the dominant Thai culture. The term dominant culture, is not a term that is meant to detract from the fact that the Thai people are among the kindest people on the planet (Komin, 1990). The term “dominant culture” simply represents the people group that is the majority in any country or area (Lindwall, 2017). Educating the dominant culture is essential to invoke change at institutional levels (Egbo, 2009). That is what Life Raft desires to do when they connect students to refugees and encourage honest discussion about the value of life, justice, and freedom.

The refugee school visits serve to expand & transform the worldviews of the students who experience them. The students get the chance to understand their own privilege, such as shelter, safety, and financial stability. It should be noted that this practice would be significantly more transformative if the refugees were permanent members of the school. The depth of relationship and understanding of the refugee situation would be much richer if students from public and international schools daily shared classrooms with refugee students. Enrolling refugees into a school requires government approval and programs, which can be difficult to do, especially if the refugees are asylum seekers (Amnesty International, 2021) meaning they are undocumented. In addition to this notion, in order for deep interpersonal connection between refugees and students of dominant cultures; dominance, and cultural diversity must be properly taught by teachers (Egbo, 2009).

For more information about Life Raft International, check out this link. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. It was a pleasure spending time with you today.

Peace & Blessings, 

– Josiah 

References

Amnesty International. (2021) What’s the Difference Between a Refugee and an Asylum Seeker? Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org.au/refugee-and-an-asylum-seeker-difference/

Egbo, B. (2009). Education and Diversity: Framing the Issues, Teaching for Diversity in Canadian Schools. Windsor: ON: Pearson Education Canada.

​Life Raft International. (2018). Our Solution. Life Raft International. https://www.liferaftinternational.org/our-solution/

Lindwall, J. (2017). Will I be Able to Understand My Mentee? Examining the Potential Risk of the Dominant Culture Mentoring Marginalized Youth, 12(1), 72-91. https://doi.org/10.5195/jyd.2017.485

Komin, S. (1990) Culture and Work-Related Values in Thai Organizations, International Journal of Psychology,25(3-6), 681-704. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207599008247921