May 07 2009
Fugees
As a student in Glasgow, Scotland, I ran across a couple of articles on a group of young refugee musicians called Fugees United. They pooled together their musical talents and tried to raise awareness of the plight of refugees in the U.K., Europe, and around the world. I don’t know that much about them, but their efforts to rise above remained with me.
Refugees in the U.K. are definitely not the political and social darlings of the country. They are despised by many, but there are a precious few that understand where they come from as much as a foreigner can and really try to welcome them into the country.
I volunteered with a charity called NCH in Glasogw to “befriend” a young refugee. Basically, I worked as a bit of a cultural broker, to introduce the refugee to life in the U.K., and to help her practice her English. I worked at it, but I didn’t get very far. It was she that showed me how to ride the bus, pointed me in the right direction when I was about to go the wrong way on the subway, and showed me about life in Scotland.
Here’s a video of them in George Square in Glasgow:
They
