Text Type: Non-Fiction Date Completed: 27/03/2017
“Nujeen,” written by Nujeen Mustafa and Christina Lamb, is the unique story of Nujeen Mustafa, the girl who has cerebral palsy and cannot walk. This does not stop her from travelling from war-torn Syria in her wheelchair in search of a new life.
When someone asks me who I think is the one person that inspired me to complete any dream that I can imagine, I think of Nujeen. In my eyes, I see her as someone who made me dream without limits and hope without any hesitation. She was able to endure a journey from war-torn Syria to Germany, which would become her safe haven. She did this all on the wheels of a wheelchair and her family by her side. As she began her journey her attitude was different from when she had finished. This is shown in the quote, “I knew this would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. I thought, I will have something to tell my grandchildren.” Nujeen demonstrates to me that every situation has a positive side. Negative situations happen all the time and we can’t avoid them, all we can do is stay positive and visualize yourself reaching your goal. If you think negative, your goal will be pointless as you will never achieve it. We can’t all expect to have a positive attitude on everything we encounter but this does help. If, in your mind you are set on what you wish to achieve, there is no limit to what you can do.
This text is relevant to the current world’s society because it gives you the idea of the global issues on refugees. Almost half a million innocent people face death in Syria due to the serious violence of the ongoing war. Millions of people have had to flee from their homeland, uprooting themselves from their traditional roots and struggling to survive in a new country; language barrier and racism become a real challenge for these people on a regular basis. These people have to deal with the negative stereotypes that are being put on them and this is shown in the quote, “Prime Minister Viktor Orban really seemed to hate migrants. He kept complaining that migration was fuelling terrorism and had erected billboards which warned, if you come to Hungary don’t take the jobs of Hungarians.” This shows me how the stereotypes of society can have effect on what people believe. Many Non-muslims around the world have a misconception that Islam promotes violence and this therefore leads to discrimination against Muslims and public harassment etc. I feel sorry for these people knowing what they have to go through each day.
Although I have not been a refugee, I have had an experience being in a new country. I moved to New Zealand when I was 13, as a young girl with no experience, language barrier and new culture became a real challenge. I remember those times when I tried to talk to the locals and they didn’t understand what I was saying, it made me lose confidence and also felt isolated just like the refugees in Germany. Another challenge was the false stereotypes what were being put on me, when people thought of Asians, they thought of that misbehaved non- English speaking tourists trashing their town, thus, a few people thought I was messy and didn’t speak English.
I would recommend this text mainly because of its style of writing. Its way of writing connects the author with the reader and it feels like the author is talking to you; it provides a impacting read which pulls you in from the start, causes you to reflect on your own personal experiences. It teaches the readers to appreciate the life they have. Most of us are lucky to be born in a country where it is terrorist-free and safe to walk around. For some people, they have no choice but to leave. I can’t perceive how difficult it would be for Syrians to have terrorists running around freely in their country and to have a government bombing the city and the civilians for no reason.