Refugees do not come to new places to make more money and seek out jobs. True refugees are fleeing for safety and are forced to go to an alien place just to survive. They leave their family, friends, work, and homes because that is what they must do for safety. They should not be hated for being persecuted but should be welcomed to  lessen the hardships they already have to endure. Only when people stop seeing refugees as weeds that sprout from the ground to kill everything and start seeing them as beautiful flowers that need to planted and given nourishment to help them grow will refugees be accepted and loved like they deserve to be. — Clare Drosos

In the United States, a high school in Cincinnati, Ohio requires students to fulfill a certain number of hours each year devoted to community service. Students have two options: they can either serve their hours throughout the year in their hometown, or they can go on a missions trip in May for two weeks, serving full-time elsewhere. This past May a group of students and their teacher decided to do their missions trip in Budapest with the refugee mission of RMK. RMK hosted these students for two weeks while they served and worked with refugees in the city. Throughout the duration of their stay, students became acquainted with several people and families who have sought  asylum in Hungary. These students learned about their ways of life and the turbulent situations that forced them to flee. 

Documented and written by American teenagers from their time with RMK in Budapest, here are the stories of six refugees.

Read the Series: 

Part I: The Story of Abdul

Part II: The Story of Wafa

Part III: The Story of Ali

Part IV: The Stories of Adea and Hamida

Part V: The Story of Omer

The Blog Series has been edited by Amy Walker.