It was Saturday in suburbia, and a group of Syrian, Iraqi and American teens were at the local library when they decided to go to the field out back to play a little soccer. On the way, a Syrian boy asked an American girl if she wanted to be on his team.
She said yes.
That’s how it went, all summer long, in a respite from the religious violence and political turmoil roiling their young worlds. A group of American teenagers from the Maplewood and South Orange suburbs of North Jersey spent the summer hanging out with newly resettled refugee teenagers from Syria and Iraq, now living in the area around urban Elizabeth, NJ.
"It was nearly impossible for someone my age to do anything about the world falling apart around us, and while that fact remains unchanged, I was able to get some fulfillment and worth by working in this program," said Jasper Kransdorf, 16, of Maplewood. "Also, I made some really cool friends."
The teens were brought together by a new group called Village To Village United. The organizers — all women, and mostly teachers, from the Maplewood area — thought if they gathered kids from different backgrounds they could build a spirit of understanding within the next generation. They raised some money at small fundraisers in their homes to pay for buses that picked up the refugee teens at a mosque in Elizabeth and brought them on trips with the kids from the suburbs. They went to the Newark Museum, where they listened to jazz, and to the South Mountain Reservation, where they hiked and cooked s'mores.
They also did a series of art projects together. One involved making portraits in which the teens outlined the faces of their new friends.
On Saturday, for the last day of the program, they were tasked with writing short essays about a happy moment in their lives.
"The happiest moment is when I came to the United States of America," wrote Abdul Ammar, 16, a recent arrival from Kurdistan, Iraq. "Because at this moment I know my future will change. Because the USA is country of opportunities."
Ammar said he was surprised by how kind the American kids had been this summer. "When I came here they was telling me the American people don’t like people who don’t like speaking their language," he said. "So when I came here I was shocked because I saw people communicate and make a friendship."
The teens' interactions were remarkably normal. One Syrian student shared with the group clips of a spy movie, complete with special effects, that he and his friends made using just their phones in the woods near their homes in Elizabeth. The teens also found a common language on the soccer field — they found themselves kicking the ball around whenever they hung out.
"We’ve all lived on this earth long enough to realize when someone is struggling and needs help, you support them in any way possible," said Channa Lauder, 17, of South Orange, who said she was particularly empathetic because she came to the United States from Cambodia as a child, unable to speak English.
For 16-year-old Sofia Ratkevich of Maplewood, support meant simply coming to these events — and making friends.
"With what’s been happening, I just felt like I had to be a part of [Village To Village United] and contribute in some way, and I couldn’t just sit around," she said.
Her new friend, Syrian Rade al-Radi, is 14 — but he'll be 15 soon, he quickly noted.
"I like it because I will know new friends," he said.
After the soccer game, the kids returned to the Maplewood Library for an art show, displaying the projects they made to the community. There was a guitar there, and three of the Syrians played a song about their home country for their new American village.