For my service requirement, I went to the Tree of Hope Project with CRIS in room 163 of Smith-Steeb Hall. This event took place on September 25, 2018 at 7 pm. In this project, members of the International Affairs scholars program wrote cards to incoming refugee children going to school in Columbus. Learning about the situation that some of these refugee children were in gave me more of an understanding of the importance of the project. Everyone should feel included, and it is very difficult for refugee children to automatically come into school feeling like they belong. I believe that I gained a feeling of hope for the children from writing the cards.

This event relates to International Affairs because as a scholars program, we care about what is happening in other countries across the world, just as we are with what is happening in our country. Our interest in this project is welcoming the refugees to our country as they would welcome us to theirs. We (IA) heard about CRIS, the founder of the project, during our second community meeting. CRIS is a program that matches people, known as mentors, up with refugees, known as mentees, who are coming into Columbus and do not really have any connections. While the program is meant for everyone, the cards from the Tree of Hope project go to just refugee children in school.

While writing the cards, I noticed that everyone’s cards were different. Most of the cards had effort put into them, but in different ways. While some cards were more artistic, others were more plain, but had messages with them. This showed me that no one necessarily had to be artistic or have any art skills to participate in the project, the true meaning of the project was the thought put behind it.

In my first card, I wrote “Welcome!” on the front, and then “You matter. You are loved. We are so glad to have you here.” on the inside. For my second card, I wanted a Spanish-speaker to receive it, so I used what I have learned during my four years of Spanish in high school and in my Spanish 2202 class. I wrote “Ten un buen día. Te amamos.” which translates to “Have a good day. We love you.” Since the first two cards focused more on the message, I tried to make the third card showier. I am not artistic in any sense, but I put some effort into using multiple colors and making a border around the card.

I hope that when the refugee children receive these cards, they really take the time to look at them. I know many people in IA, including myself, really want these children to feel welcome, and that is why we participated in the project. I know that some kids will not feel left out or secluded, and they might not need the cards as much, but for some other kids, words of encouragement are exactly what they need. My biggest hope is that the cards that I wrote will brighten a refugee child’s day, because that was my intent while writing them.