18 Jul Alyssa Caputo
“Get a good idea, and stay with it. Dog it, and work at it until it’s done, and done right.”—Walt Disney.
Thank you Michael and Julianna. I also want to thank the Shangilia Youth Network for teaching me that anything is possible; you just have to be willing to take a leap.
How do I start? My heart has been transformed by this experience. Starting at day one, when we all met for breakfast and smiled so large at one another, excited for the journey to come. I was already in love with the 19 individuals crowded in the breakfast room.
Day One: It’s Showtime! The refugees show us their performance piece about identity. How amazing was it that the American piece and the Dadaab piece shared many similarities? They clapped and danced, and we clapped and danced. They shared their hearts with us, and us to them. We are all human beings. We share the same basic wants and needs.
I’m going to skip to what I believe was day two at Lake Naivasha. By the end of the day, I experienced so many emotions that have changed the Alyssa Caputo we all once knew. We start the day off in rehearsal, and before rehearsal, Sumayo, Mustafah, and I decide to play on the swings in the field. We are three of the youngest members of the project. The three of us celebrate our youth by reentering our younger days—twisting one another around on a swing and letting go, so the rider spins around quickly. Sumayo then takes the lead by inviting other members of the group as they enter the rehearsal space onto the swing set, twisting and pushing them around. Sumayo has been a huge influence on me this entire trip. Her courage, passion, love, and heart inspired me to become a better human being, open to all and accepting everything that seems foreign to me. She was beautiful to watch push the men on the swing sets. They were having so much fun! She was proud and shameless to be herself. I wanted to be like her. So, my first victim was Abdi Rashid. He closed his eyes and squealed the entire time the swing spun him around like a top. I laughed so hard and felt so much joy I still carry in my heart today. Pure happiness and joy was and still is in the air. Who cares if we were acting like we were six? We had fun and enjoyed life as it was.
Later that day, Sumayo received a phone call. Her uncle had passed away. The two of us walked to dinner together in silence and I asked her what happened. One thing led to another, and soon we were sitting together outside of the cafeteria. She told me the story of her father and how she ended up leaving Somalia for Dadaab. I felt so much weight in my heart. Anger. Disgust. Hurt. Sadness. Love for Sumayo. She cried in front of me, reliving that experience. I cried reliving it with her. I could never be as strong as she is. A lot of people have asked me about the language barrier and I am proud to say, that despite the fact that words are different, the message was clear. When we didn’t know how to express ourselves in sentences, we used motion and acted out what we wanted to say. Her emotion was enough to tell the story. The knots in my stomach helped tell her story as well. There is a language older than words.
Abdi Rashid, thank you for showing me that I am enough. I don’t need to try to be anything but myself. I also want to thank you for showing me that expressing what is in your heart can lead you to freedom—to the freedom of expression and identity.
Sumayo, thank you for showing me what true love, passion, friendship, and emotional connection is. Thank you for being my friend, sister, and role model. You are powerful and beautiful and I look up to you more and more every day.
Thank you all for allowing me to be myself and accepting the human being that I am. Thank you for opening up to me and giving me the honor to peep inside your huge hearts and intelligent minds. I am blessed to have met nine remarkable individuals such as you. I only hope my heart will be as large as yours one day. I only hope I will be as driven and as passionate as you are one day.
Love and passion are two powerful tools. All of my friends from Dadaab have taught me this.
Never give up. Be yourself. And live. Nothing can stop you.
“You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world…but it requires people to make the dream a reality.”—Walt Disney