Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Jillian Woodward.
Speaker 2: And I'm Roger Bassic. Spotlight uses a special English method
Speaker 2: of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
Speaker 2: matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 3: It was morning. I was out collecting water. Then I
Speaker 3: heard the guns. I heard my family shout and cry
Speaker 3: for help. But the soldiers were everywhere. I saw everything.
Speaker 3: I ran for my life. Do not know where, but
Speaker 3: I got away. I found a place to hide. I
Speaker 3: was safe, But what about my family. Something told me
Speaker 3: they were still alive, so I went back for them,
Speaker 3: but they were gone. I had no home, no family.
Speaker 3: There was no one to help me.
Speaker 1: This is the story of a woman named Estelle. After
Speaker 1: this experience, she was a refugee. She did not know
Speaker 1: where her family was. She did not know how to
Speaker 1: find them. However, in twenty twelve, she heard about Refugite
Speaker 1: an ENNGI or non governmental organization Refunite, which stands for
Speaker 1: Refugees United, a group that believes everyone has the right
Speaker 1: to know where their family is. She used their free
Speaker 1: online program. Soon, Estelle received an SMS text message from
Speaker 1: her sister. Her sister was living only five kilometers away. Together,
Speaker 1: they are now using the Refunite program to look for
Speaker 1: other family members.
Speaker 2: How does this program work to bring families back together.
Speaker 2: Today's spotlight is on the organization Refunite.
Speaker 1: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or UNHCR, says
Speaker 1: that there are more than one hundred and twenty million
Speaker 1: people who are forcibly displaced worldwide. These people have been
Speaker 1: forced to leave their homes. UNHCR classifies forty two million
Speaker 1: of them as refugees living outside their homeland. They have
Speaker 1: experienced many difficult things like war and hunger. Nearly half
Speaker 1: of the displaced are children below the age of eighteen
Speaker 1: years old. Columbia, Germany, Turkey, Iran, and Uganda host over
Speaker 1: one third of the world's refugees and other displaced people,
Speaker 1: but refugees are found in over one hundred and one
Speaker 1: different countries. The problem of refugees is a very large one.
Speaker 1: It affects people all over the world.
Speaker 2: Christopher and David Michelson are brothers from Denmark. In two
Speaker 2: thousand and five, they met a young man named Mansour.
Speaker 2: He was a refugee from Afghanistan. He had not seen
Speaker 2: his family for five years. He did not know where
Speaker 2: they were. He did not even know if they were
Speaker 2: alive or dead. The Michelson brothers started to help Monsor.
Speaker 2: They visited different refugee organizations. Some organizations, such as the
Speaker 2: Red Cross, tried to reunite refugee families, but this process
Speaker 2: can be long and difficult. No one was able to
Speaker 2: help Monsur. Finally, without the help of other organizations, they
Speaker 2: found Mansor's brother in Pakistan.
Speaker 1: Later, David Michelson said that this experience gave him very
Speaker 1: strong feelings. He thought about how he would feel if
Speaker 1: he lost his brother. David and Christopher Mickelson then decided
Speaker 1: that they wanted to help more people. They wanted to
Speaker 1: use use technology to help refugee families, so they created
Speaker 1: a space on the Internet where refugees could find each other.
Speaker 1: They named their organization Refunite.
Speaker 2: It is a very simple system. A person enters information
Speaker 2: about herself. This is called creating a profile. Then other
Speaker 2: people can easily find her and she can also search
Speaker 2: for other people who have also made profiles. Refunite works
Speaker 2: through the Internet. People can use a computer to get
Speaker 2: the program, but.
Speaker 1: The Mickelsons wanted everyone to be able to use this technology,
Speaker 1: so they also made it possible to use the site
Speaker 1: on a mobile phone. People can even enter their information
Speaker 1: or search through text messages. In this way, most people
Speaker 1: in the world can use the program on the Refunite website.
Speaker 1: David Michelson explains how the program works.
Speaker 4: Refunite is an online global tool. People can go in
Speaker 4: and make a profile. They can search for lost loved ones.
Speaker 4: They can do it online or they can do it
Speaker 4: through their mobile phone. You only give out the information
Speaker 4: that you are comfortable with. You can put in the
Speaker 4: first letters of your name, your religious leader's name, or
Speaker 4: or what tribe you are from. In most cases, as
Speaker 4: a refugee, you are just sitting around waiting for nothing,
Speaker 4: and here refugees can actually take charge of their own situation.
Speaker 1: Some refugees come from very dangerous situations. They must be
Speaker 1: careful to protect themselves. They cannot give too much personal
Speaker 1: information online. That is why Refunite suggests people give information
Speaker 1: that only family members will know. These are things such
Speaker 1: as where a person was born, or what is a
Speaker 1: person's favorite food or sport. Many people have had success
Speaker 1: after making a profile was Refunite. One woman shares her
Speaker 1: story on a video.
Speaker 5: A priest from my country told me about Refunite. I
Speaker 5: made my profile, I wrote my name, I wrote what
Speaker 5: I did in my country, and after three days, my
Speaker 5: sister Denise was there. Somebody tells you your sister is here.
Speaker 5: I can help you to communicate, and it's free. It
Speaker 5: means I am not alone anymore. Denise is not alone anymore.
Speaker 5: Now I can sleep, I can sleep knowing Denise is there.
Speaker 2: Like this woman, many refugees are lonely. They may live
Speaker 2: in a foreign country, they may not know how to
Speaker 2: make their situation better. Christopher Mickelson explains how Refunite helps
Speaker 2: people work together.
Speaker 6: The mission of Refunite is to help refugees to be
Speaker 6: active players in the process of finding family. It is
Speaker 6: about one thing. You cannot find your family. Let us
Speaker 6: try and work on that. This is what we can do,
Speaker 6: and this is how we can help you help yourself.
Speaker 2: Organizations that work with refugees can also use the search tool.
Speaker 2: The Mickelsons have formed partnerships with businesses and organizations such
Speaker 2: as Google, Ericsson, Haikeia, and the Red Cross. They hope
Speaker 2: this will help them unite even more refugees with their families.
Speaker 2: To visit the Refunite site, you may use this link
Speaker 2: www that Refunite do rg.
Speaker 1: The work of Refunite gives hope to people who cannot
Speaker 1: find their families buy a hunger. Kissembo from the Congo
Speaker 1: does not know where his father is. He is one
Speaker 1: of thousands of people waiting for news, but Refunite has
Speaker 1: given people an active way to wait. Kissembo told Refunite.
Speaker 7: By myself alone, I am hopeless to find my dad,
Speaker 7: but with Refvnite, I have some hope.
Speaker 2: Do you know people in your community who have been refugees?
Speaker 2: How did they stay connected to their family members in
Speaker 2: other countries? How may you help them feel welcome and
Speaker 2: at home in your community. You can leave a comment
Speaker 2: on our website at www dot Spotlight English dot com.
Speaker 2: You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram,
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Speaker 2: Spotlight English app.
Speaker 1: The original writer of this program was Rina dam It
Speaker 1: was revised and updated by Spotlight staff. The producer was
Speaker 1: mitchio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United
Speaker 1: States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted and
Speaker 1: voiced by Spotlight. No AI or artificial intelligence was used
Speaker 1: in this program. Spotlight programs are written, voiced, and produced
Speaker 1: by real people for real people, no matter where in
Speaker 1: the world they live. You can listen to this program
Speaker 1: again and read it on the internet at www dot
Speaker 1: Spotlight English dot org. The program is called Uniting Refugee
Speaker 1: Families Again.
Speaker 2: We hope you can join us again for the next
Speaker 2: spot By program. Good Bye,