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Our emerging Arabic program helps Arabic learners at Loyola find connections between classroom learning experience and multiple investments of Arabic as applied to their own worlds. Students celebrate their ability to own their Arabic learning as it fits their needs and enjoy discovering opportunities in which Arabic helps them in diverse personal contexts.

Enlightening and Humbling: Volunteering with Syrian American Medical Society

Posted on: March 14th, 2017 by sabbadi No Comments

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For the past five years, the Syrian people, both inside and outside the country, have suffered an immense pain with the constant violence and chaos that erupts within areas like Aleppo, Homs, Hama, etc. As a result, I along with many other volunteers were blessed enough to visit regions where there were a high amount of refugees

My  name is Waleed Omar. I am Palestinian- American, born and raised here in the United States who is currently a Biochemistry major working towards a minor in exercise science. I am, without a doubt, related to the refugees who suffered in order to allow me to escape the realities that exist in the Middle East. On January 6th, I was lucky enough to join SAMS, Syrian American Medical Society, on a mission trip with dozens of volunteers, ranging from Physicians to translators, in an attempt to provide health care treatments for refugees in Jordan.

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On one of the days during the mission, I was humbled by the experience in Zaatari, one of the largest refugee camps in the world. This was the second trip I had taken with SAMS and each visit to the camp makes me appreciate the privileges I have in the United States. These were not people who were uneducated or lost, these were intelligent, kind, and welcoming people who allowed us and gave me a chance to help out in any capacity I could as a triage and translator for all kinds of wonderful physicians from different backgrounds and specialties.

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Taking Arabic classes at Loyola and being able to speak it was a huge advantage for me because it allowed me to translate from the patients to the non-Arabic speaking volunteers, which facilitated a more efficient treatment of patients. The children held our hands every time we walked out of the clinics, where physicians treated hundreds of patients a day for this six day trip. They treated us like kings and queens. Despite our efforts, many of us recognized that these people deserve our utmost respect; for living with simplicity in a complex world and staying sane all at once.

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I was blessed enough to visit other areas like Azraq camp, and other clinics around Jordan that had wonderful refugees who welcomed us with joy and appreciation. Despite the conditions they live in and the mental state they must be in, with war taking its toll, they acted with class.

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