My VR Refugee Experience

I thought that the virtual reality experience was very interesting and definitely had an impact on me but at the same time I was fidgeting with my phone, thinking about how I didn't have my earbuds with me and how some scenes were not up to high definition quality.  These are my problems but when I really dove in to the virtual reality experience I found bigger problems that needed to be addressed.

It was definitely hard for me to place myself in these refugees shoes because I was "seeing" what they were going through but not feeling what they were going through.  I can sympathize and feel for the refugees in the virtual reality videos and for Nadia and Saeed in Exit West but I won't understand any of the back story.  Videos and books are up to interpretation and that's what makes them so powerful but the power of them only ingrains itself into my mind so far because I can not relate to the stories that are being told.  I think that the stories of the Refugees in The Displaced were very insightful and heart wrenching but I missed all of the small details.  Some details that I undoubtedly missed could be, what used to be these children's towns, what do the children need for survival and what kind of lives did these children live before they became refugees?  These are critical questions but at the same time only the individual living their life can answer them accurately.  If these kids witnessed my earbud misplacement crisis it would effect them all differently and in a unique way.  At the same time I am seeing their legitimate crisis and am able to feel sympathy but I have no idea what is really going on, physically and mentally.

The virtual reality experience definitely sheds light on these young boys and girls dire state.  The videos make me want to take action and to help.  I want to give my support but from the virtual reality standpoint I think that I still can not relate in the slightest to these refugees.  I feel sympathy for them and have the ability see what they see everyday, but I will never be able to show empathy and really make a strong connection to them unless I step into their minds.

Stepping Into Their Reality

The biggest "wow" moment for me was when I was watching, rather experiencing the first VR video, The Displaced, and I was able to see the different little kids who were alone, with no parents to look after them. It was cool, but a little depressing. We got the chance to see what those people's lives are like on a daily basis. Even though we got a slight glimpse of what it's like there, we're not actually there. We're very privileged and have advantages that those people don't have. While watching the video, I felt guilty and responsible in a way. I felt guilty for obvious reasons, I have things they don't. For instance, a home to live in. Their lives are full of struggle, when all I had to do was turn off the video and it was over. I was able to go back to a good life. They can't go anywhere because that is their reality. I felt responsible because we have everything in this country, they have nothing. I felt like we needed to give back to those who are less fortunate.

A Narrow Reality

In the book Exit West, Mohsin Hamid writes about the refugee crisis. Having never been to the Middle East, or even out of the country for that matter, I was instantly curious about the environment depicted in the book. When Mr. Heidkamp told the class we would be using virtual reality machines, I was immediately intrigued. VR seemed like a perfect opportunity to try out a new piece of technology and get a better picture of the setting of Exit West. However, when it came time to actually watch the videos in the Makerspace, there was a lens that could not be ignored. 

Primarily, something felt inherently wrong about sitting in that space, surrounded by copious amounts of expensive technology, watching videos about refugees. As I heard students in the background giggling and playing with the chairs, I struggled to focus on what I was really watching. I felt guilty watching videos on a topic of such intensity without giving it my full attention. As much as I was supposed to be suspended in VR, I spent most of the time trying to figure out how to close out the noise around me. 

If the problems of noise and technological struggles are eliminated, I am still not sure if virtual reality would successfully fill in the holes of an education in global setting. Because the virtual reality videos are constructed by a creator, whether that be a doctor, from Doctors Without Borders, or a journalist from The New York Times, the videos contain a specific bias. The individuals behind the videos make a conscious choice of what to include and not include, and while that is true in all forms of media, it is important to recognize this is also true in something trademarked by the word "reality". 

Therefore, I think that VR can be useful to get a general look at what is going on in different places, but should not be depended on as the name "virtual reality" seems to suggest.

Seeing Others

Truly being in one's shoes to feel and understand them, to me, is never fully possible. Even those whose lives aren’t so different from our own, I find that fully understanding and recognizing one's feelings and personal situations is hard to do.

The Ukraine war has left Oleg and his family lost in their own village. Once they have returned, we see Oleg recorded in a building blown up to pieces. We later find out that this was Oleg’s old school. While his friends and him scrummage through the remains of their school, the 11 year old boy says, “Before when the teachers would yell at us we would say wouldn’t it be cool if the school blew up...I would never wish that now.” The moment was a wake up call. A little boy, who like any other boy doesn't like school, now has to deal with the painful truth of what it looks like to actually have a school blown up.

While I can sympathize with Oleg, I can’t imagine what it feels like to have my own school blown up. It can be recognized that it's horrible, but pinpointing the exact level of devastation and sadness is harder to feel. I think that while we can sympathize and emphasize with people who have a similar lifestyle of our own, we can never truly recognize or understand someone else's life because it’s not our life.

Oleg’s life is very different from my civilized, safe life, not being able to experience what he's gone through blocks my full understanding of how he feels. Going from being a normal school boy to a boy who has nothing, I don’t think anyone can understand how that feels.

Something From those With Nothing

In the two virtual reality videos that I watched, I took away a similar thought. This was the thought that depending on where an individual is from environmentally shapes their character in more ways than one. For me, the biggest wow moment was seeing Oleg and his friends play will the leftover 50 caliber shells and leftover pieces of scrap metal from the bombs like it was a present to them and they were so happy and excited just to be with each other in their hometown which was now a wreck due to the previous war that had swept through Ukraine. This was the largest wow moment because of how happy and carefree Oleg and his friends were, it seemed like nothing had changed, as if there had been no war at all, but instead an event that led to new places and things that he and his friends could play with and explore. Because Oleg was so accustomed to war violence and havoc the aftermath came to him as a gift because he could return to the place where his friends were and where he was happiest despite all of the destruction. Oleg said one thing they could take back was wishing that the school got blown up, which actually happened, they realized that having a place where all their friends and teachers work cohesively is a treat, unfortunately they realized this after the war and many of the past inhabitants of their home were gone along with their property. Most of the stories in “The Displaced” follow the lives of young kids who have been ripped from their homes in order to seek safety and or work elsewhere. The thing all of these stories have in common that was another wow moment for me was that none of these kids felt sorry for themselves. These kids understood why it had to be the way it is and accepted their fate they all hoped to have life return to the way it was but they never got too hung up on it, they kept theirs chins up and focused on the task at hand. I admire all of these kids because of their strength and true grit. I believe we could all learn something from lose who lost everything.

Animalism in Exit West

"...in these trees now were dark bodies too, children who climbed and played among the boughs, like little monkeys, not because to be dark is to be monkey-like, though that has been and was being and will long be slurred, but because people are monkeys who have forgotten that they are monkeys, and so have lost respect for what they are born of, for the natural world around them..."

Throughout Exit West animal analogies are prevalent. From comparing Saeed and Nadia's love to a fox or migrants to hunted animals, Mohsin Hamid relies on a comparison between humans and animals. On the one hand, comparisons to animals dehumanize characters perhaps reflecting the way in which they are received by natives after arriving through the doors. However, often Hamid uses animals in order to demonstrate a greater depth of the human experience.

This seemingly contradictory function of animal analogies in fact provides the key to a theme of the story. Rather than dehumanizing people like the traditional usage, it instead provides readers a greater understanding of the characters as human beings. In the response of the natives to the migrants is the lack of recognition of them as human beings in need of help but rather an unwelcome threat. This fundamental lack of compassion in the response of natives to migrants must be solved through a recognition of humanity. For example, as Saeed and the preacher's daughter grow closer, or Nadia and the cook, we can see the power of developing relationships and recognition. In the same way by turning the purpose of animal analogies on its head, Hamid supplies readers with an element of human connection otherwise missing from the story.

VR Isn't Empathy

Virtual reality is exciting. It entices us to new experiences, and it symbolizes the revolution of technology in our modern world. For some, though, it can be literally and figuratively dizzying. Especially when paired with a topic as heavy as the migrant plight, I am hesitant to suggest VR to someone who is looking to better his/her understanding of the topic.

It was not my first time using virtual reality headsets when I strapped one onto my head in my English class a few days ago. It most likely would not be the last time, either. As my eyes adjusted to the somewhat blurry picture, I saw the title of the video: The Displaced. As I had been given background on what I was going to watch, I thought the title was clever and poignant. It had captured my attention, and the allure of VR had worked its magic and made me excited to continue watching. Here, I caution the audience to recognize that "excitement" is not the emotion they may expect someone to feel before watching a video about the not-so-pretty tales of migrant children. But nonetheless, there I was.

As I continued watching, I could not find myself to focus so much on the children's stories as I could the heavy box weighing on my cheeks and the captions that required me to physically turn my body to read. Sure, I absorbed the story, and I understand that this blog should be centered around that. However, I find myself challenged to do so when the VR experience was so much on its own that I could not fully articulate a deeper understanding of the refugees' situations. And however I may wish to sympathize -- for I do not feel capable of empathizing, as I do not know their experiences for myself -- I think that in what was supposed to be the most real and raw way to see their lives, I found myself distracted and annoyed with the device I was using.

So what I must say of my takeaways, from the parts I was able to focus on, is that the children in the video are our near-polar opposites. We attempt to feel what they feel through a video on our phones, and a piece of technology only available to the most advanced. They, on the other hand, are perhaps some of the most non-materialistic humans I have ever seen. Among the rubble of what was once their homes and neighborhoods, the video ended on clips of the kids explaining how they find fulfillment and happiness in each other's presence, without a piece of tech in site. I think we have a lot to learn from them.

Children Losing Their Childhoods

Towards the end of the video, the film cut to the three kids right in a row and they gave little overviews of their lives. The girl, Hana, said she wanted the war to end so she “could go back to being a little girl again.” That was the biggest wow moment because it really hits you how these kids lose their childhoods. Obviously there are physical losses of family or homes, but psychologically, they have to worry about things that a child should never have to consider. They have to fear for their lives at such a young age, which sounds insane that a child as young as 9, in the case of Chuol, has to experience their father being burned alive. He also says he thinks being eaten by a crocodile would be better than dying in the fighting, which is incredibly sad because no child anywhere should have to be quite literally considering different ways to die.

The only child who was able to go home was the child from Ukraine, who lost his grandfather, but also had to witness coming home to his completely demolished village. The emotional weight of the destruction of everything that he knew and was familiar must have been crushing for such a young boy. The loss of physical things seems so trivial in comparison to the loss of lives, but for kids like the ones in this video, the loss of a place or item that previously provided comfort and a feeling of safety could be devastating to young kids.

Focusing on the experience of these kids really puts into perspective how, on top of every other terrible thing happening in their homes that caused them to leave, they can never experience a childhood in the way that so many of us elsewhere in the world get to. It really hits you how privileged we are to simply feel safe waking up in the morning and not fearing for our lives the way some children in other places in the world have to.