Editor’s note: the following press release was provided by the PMHS Students for Refugees club.

More than 68.5 million people from around the world are currently living as refugees or displaced persons. More than half of them are children. Every day, these people struggle to find adequate shelter, food and water.

Students for Refugees (SFR), a PMHS club, is hosting a refugee simulation exercise right here in Pelham. On Wednesday, January 30, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the PMHS cafeteria will transform into a makeshift refugee camp. Groups will visit multiple stations to gain insight about the day to day struggles of being a refugee.

Each participant will get an identity card at the beginning of the exercise and assume the role of that refugee. They will then proceed to visit food, water, shelter, and education stations at which they will engage in activities that will show them the everyday hardships that refugees face. The participants will conclude the simulation at an advocacy station at which they will learn about the ways that they can advocate for refugee justice. This station will also include optional donation boxes for multiple organizations and postcards on which participants can write messages to refugee children overseas.

We invite both students and parents to attend the simulation in hopes that it brings the Pelham community together around the fight for justice. To make it accessible to everyone, admission is free.

Email [email protected] for more information.