“Life is About Interactions”: Solidarity Week at Loyola Academy
BY KELLY SWAN | May 22, 2017
“Our Solidarity Week was more than just talking about complicated policy issues regarding refugees,” explains Jeff Sullivan, S.J., Arrupe Service Program coordinator at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois.
“This way of talking about justice as problems to be fixed or solved can be confusing, unnerving, and lead to cynicism or apathy,” continues Sullivan.
To provide a tangible sense of the experiences of refugees, the school utilized the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) resource “Walk a Mile in My Shoes”—a refugee simulation program—as a capstone experience during Solidarity Week, held in April.

Refugee simulation at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL [Photo courtesy of Loyola Academy]

Students explore food distribution and nutrition issues in refugee camps [Photo courtesy of Loyola Academy]

Students receive refugee IDs [Photo courtesy of Loyola Academy]
The day following the simulation, students had the opportunity to hear firsthand the story of a peer in the Chicago area who arrived in the U.S. as a refugee. Students shared that the simulation and interaction with the speaker—a Chicago public school student who shared about the experience of being tortured—changed their perspective on the refugee crisis and called them to be in community with refugees.

A display featuring life jackets and an inflatable raft highlight the dangers faced by refugees [Photo courtesy of Jan Stoner via Twitter]
Editor’s Note: This piece was originally published as part of the Ignatian Solidarity Network News From the Network series.

Kelly Swan has worked for the Ignatian Solidarity Network since 2016, first as communications director, and now as director of advancement. She grew up in West Virginia and is a graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University. Kelly has worked in parish social ministry, child and family advocacy, community education and organizing, and publishing. She lives in the Cleveland, Ohio area with her children.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!