help a Kurdish refugee come to Smith College

My name is Lily Shannon (Smith College '24J), and I'm fundraising for my close friend, a Kurdish Refugee with plans to start at Smith in the fall. I have been using my own savings to help pay for her visa applications, but I fear there is nothing else I can do but write this letter.

Donating to this cause would help her pay for future visa applications, immigration legal fees, and transportation to and from the American Embassy in Athens. Leftover donations will help her pay for food and rent for the next month or two. She has been trying to find a job for months, but no one in her town will hire her because she is a refugee.

I had the privilege of getting to know her during my study abroad program in Greece two years ago. Her father was murdered in her arms when she was three, and she struggled with brutal prejudice as a minority in her own country. Due to personal problems (that cannot be publicly discussed for safety reasons), she fled Iraq a semester before graduating high school, leaving her plans to become a doctor.

Absolutely nothing has been handed to her. She went from living on the streets at 17 to working as an interpreter and culture mediator for the UNHCR within 1 year. She taught herself English and Greek within three months by saving her monthly stipend of 30 euros (for food and clothes) to buy a smartphone with internet to watch youtube videos. She is the youngest of 4 children, and the only one who has been able to get a job. She is 23 now, and she has spent the past 4 years studying in Greece and working as an interpreter to support her 2 sisters, 3 nieces, brother, and mother - who is dying of ovarian cancer. She used the little money she has earned to get her family to safety in EU countries (they are there with full refugee status - she remained in Greece because she was studying and that is the most important thing in the world to her).

She is hesitant to open up to people and there are surely many things I’ll never know about her, but she gradually opened up to talk about her past. Actually, I think she felt somewhat relieved to give it away. She doesn’t dramatize anything she’s been through. If anything she downplays it like it’s just her life and what she has just done was what she had to do to protect her family and to lead them to safety. I grew up in a suburb and have never met anyone like her in my life. She is determined, hardworking, selfless - she has absolutely nothing material and no real support from anyone but somehow she seems bright and positive that she will succeed. She hates asking for help, and she wants to prove to herself that she has what it takes to provide for her family and to rebuild her own life and a future. She once had dreams of becoming a doctor but by now her dream is simply to provide for her family and stay alive.

I was stunned when she said she taught herself English by watching movies. She said it was the first language she wanted to learn because she has always dreamed about living in America. Driven to find a way out of the refugee camps, she taught herself 3 languages in less than a year and now she fluently speaks 5 languages and is presently making Russian her 6th (there are many Russians in Greece). She opened my eyes as to how privileged I was to be born into an upper-middle class family in Georgia. I told her about my studies at Smith and the variety of classes, majors, and opportunities for young women was something she has never even imagined before. I showed her pictures, videos, and we browsed the course catalog together. I could tell she fell in love with the school and that’s when we started talking about the possibility of her studying there...and her new dream was born.

She applied to Smith College, which I currently attend, and was accepted with a full scholarship, with plans to start in fall 2022. Unfortunately, she has been denied a student visa two times this month. The first time she was denied, she was told it was because she had no property, money, or job in Greece - no real “ties” to convince him that she would return to Greece after her studies. This puzzled me because refugees of any kind face a lot of discrimination in Greece, and they are not wanted in their country. She made no secret about being a refugee - and the absence of property is greatly what defines a refugee - but she is one who has worked hard to rebuild her life - and American classmates could learn a great deal from her.

In a desperate attempt to obtain a student visa, she then acquired a letter of support from a congressman in Massachusetts (through Smith), a letter from the International Student Dean at Smith College saying she’s required to return to Greece after her studies, letters from the United Nations Refugee Council (where she had worked as interpreter), letter from the Dean of Students at the American Farm School where she had been studying, and she even became legally engaged to her boyfriend of two years - who is a Greek citizen. However, these efforts were not enough. In her second visa interview the visa officer chose not to even read any of the new documents and she even dared to tell her that she did not deserve such a scholarship (certainly nothing that a visa officer has the right to decide). The irony of this all is that a few years ago the American Embassy initiated an educational program to show their desire to help refugees. “From Camp to Campus” was highly promoted in the media and close to 100 refugee youth were given scholarships to attend studies in one of the three American programs in Greece. She was one of those refugees taking part. They started her path - then later closed it in her face.

Smith College heard her story, interviewed her, looked at her academic record, and decided that she would do well academically, would bring a great deal to their campus life, and deserved a full scholarship. I have seen her in class and in life and I believe that she could accomplish anything she puts her mind to. She has taught me so much about what it means to be an educated young woman and about how education is so much more than a prerequisite for a job - it provides us the opportunity to help those in need and to set a goal to really change the world.

We are now at a loss, and our only hope is making this public. We are asking for any form of support. Whether it be connections, letters of support, newspaper articles, or even a facebook post. She is clearly facing discrimination solely for being a refugee, and we hope that the Kurdish community in America will stand in solidarity with her. Hopefully your support could put pressure on the visa officers at the American Embassy in Athens, Greece, and they will recognize that their rejection of her student visa is clearly discriminatory and unethical.

She has had everything taken from her. Her pride, her hopes, her family, and her home. An education at Smith College could completely transform her life. This college is known for empowering strong women, creating changemakers, and helping those in need. She knows what it’s like to be born into poverty, fleeing from her home country, and having nothing to her name. This is why her biggest goal in life has been to help those like herself.

Her positive mindset and attitude have brought her this far, but at this point, she doesn’t have much left. Please, if you know anyone in any position of power who can help her, send them this letter and encourage them to write to their government officials.

There is so much more to her story, and if you have any questions, I am happy to answer them.

Thank you, Lily Shannon

[email redacted]