The world is my family
On a flight from Nairobi to Frankfurt heading back to Atlanta earlier this week, I sat next to a middle aged man carrying a large white IOM (International Organization for Migration) tote bag with numbers written on it in blue ink. I’d seen a number of mostly Somali families in the Nairobi airport lounge carrying these bags; we recognized them as asylum seekers traveling to their new resettlement countries.
The man had arrived at his seat before me and we spent a few minutes finding our proper places and sorting out the blankets and pillows that had gotten displaced. He handed me his backpack to place in the overhead bin with mine. We exchanged greetings and introduced ourselves as we settled into our seats. He spent some time fastening his seat belt before turning to me: “Does this look right?” he asked, pointing to the buckle and strap. I smiled and said it looked fine. He finished a quick conversation in Amharic on his cell phone and sighed deeply as he sat back in his seat and we took off.
We started a conversation in Kiswahili, which he had learned living in Kenya. He said he was traveling alone, final destination Canada. Originally from Ethiopia, he had spent over a dozen years in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya before moving to Nairobi, where he lived for four years. His paperwork finally got completed, he said – tapping his white IOM bag and the documents inside – which allowed him to move to Canada to begin his new life there.
He had three sets of displaced family members: some in Canada waiting for him, a couple of older kids in Ethiopia, and other family members he had left behind in Nairobi. He asked me about my family, where they lived, where I was going, and we exchanged stories about family and parenting. When I got up and later returned to my seat, he reminded me to fasten my seat belt and waited until I confirmed that it was secure. I was touched by this caring gesture.
Shared humanity
As the world grapples with collective global challenges: climate change, economic insecurity, sociopolitical upheaval and wars, we’re more aware of the fragility of life on earth. And while we in Kenya are lucky to have enjoyed relative stability compared to some of our neighbors in the region, Kenyans are currently reeling from the impact of deadly floods that devastated the country in the last few months, with many lives, property and livelihoods lost. And as I write this, ongoing fiery protests against tax hikes in Kenya, led mostly by socially conscious youth, dominate the news. It is tense and scary.
In light of this, it was heartwarming to see humanity in action on this flight. The flight attendants took time to attend to the IOM travelers and answer their questions. People were kind and pleasant, made way on the aisles, helped families with children stow their hand luggage, struck up conversations in various languages, didn’t complain when children cried. My new friend was sitting next to another fellow Ethiopian with a similar IOM bag, whom I could hear having a friendly conversation with the American woman next to him.
I have been working with refugees for over a decade, and have colleagues and friends who are refugees. The thought that it could be me seeking asylum, having lost loved ones, family members scattered in different countries, sitting with a white IOM bag on a flight where I’d have to count on the kindness of strangers everywhere I went, is always present somewhere in my mind. A simple twist of fate could have me on the other side of a border, fleeing war, violence and persecution. That threat is becoming more real in our tense geopolitical climate today. Dr Martin Luther King Jr was right: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
The world is one family
When we touched down in Frankfurt, I asked my fellow traveler whether he had someone meeting him there. He told me that IOM staff will await their arrival and help them with their connecting flights. As we stepped out into the airport terminal and said our goodbyes, I saw a friendly looking woman with a huge white IOM sign welcoming the IOM travelers. I noticed how the other passengers from our flight smiled and greeted her. One man gestured behind him to the plane saying, “You have many of your people in there; thank you for bringing them home safe.”
World Refugee Day was June 20th. It was meaningful for me to be on this flight at this time. Our hearts go out to those who are forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in strange and sometimes hostile lands. As we honor the courage, resilience and contributions of refugees all over the world, I’m heartened by the spirit of ubuntu that still prevails in pockets of our planet. The Sanskrit phrase from the ancient Hindu texts summarizes this simple truth: vasudhaiva kutumbakam – the world is one family.
Photo by Noorulabdeen Ahmad on Unsplash