Guest Speaker: Mr. Pablo & UNHCR Systems (Written by Whole Class)

Andres: Dear Dad. When you came in (to the classroom this morning), I knew everyone was like, “Why is Andres’ dad here?”

Isabella M.: Today in class Andres’ father came and taught us about the organization he works for.  His organization is called UNHCR and it is a business that helps people who are refugees.

Julian: UNHCR stands for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Antonio: Refugees are homeless, foodless and helpless people who are helped by this company.

Mariam: Mr. Pablo explained that there are 39,000,000 refugees who need shelter.

Carolina: The number of refugees in the world is 3 times the population of Ecuador.

Juanita: I learned that women need food more urgently because some have babies, and the babies need food. 

Julia: I learned that a refugee’s life is hard because when they escape they only take their families (with them). They don’t take water, food or blankets. So when they are migrating, sometimes they die because of illness, hunger, thirst or isolation.

Juan Esteban: I liked the part when he had us write a list of things we though a refugee camp would need. I never knew that UNHCR existed. I have a question. How do the people know where the refugee camp is?

Andres: The part (of the presentation) that I liked the most was when we dressed up in UNHCR uniforms because I felt like one of the UNHCR workers.

Whole class: Mr. Pablo made a connection between systems (which is our PYP Unit of Inquiry right now) and how UNHCR is organized.

Sebastian: I think that the way Mr. Pablo helps refugees is a good way to help humanity.

Isabel: Thank you for coming and teaching us what actual crises there are in the world. Thank you for teaching us the true meaning of help.  Thank you for teaching us how we can help our community and the world. Thank you for helping us to be grateful for all we have.