Syrian Crisis 'Up Close' In TC

The closest northern Michigan will ever get to a Syrian refugee camp will be in Traverse City’s Milliken Auditorium next week. Dr. Curt Rhodes –in the U.S. for a brief trip away from his work in refugee camps in neighboring Jordan – will share first-hand stories of the Syrian crisis, and life for the refugees and aid workers.

Rhodes will appear as part of a “Global Hot Spot” conversation organized by Northwestern Michigan College’s International Affairs Forum and co-presented with the Traverse City-based Utopia Foundation on Wed., Oct. 21, at 7pm.

Described as the “worst humanitarian crisis of modern times,” more than half of Syria’s population is on the move, either internally or externally. Before fighting broke out in 2011, Syria’s population was 22 million. Today, more than 7 million are now displaced within Syria and 4 million have become refugees in the neighboring countries of Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. Still others have fled – or attempted to flee – to Europe.

Rhodes’ northern Michigan connection comes via a longtime friendship with Harbor Springs veterinarian Dr. David Zehnder that started when they were students at Michigan State University. As part of his visit to the States, Rhodes is spending a few days in the Harbor Springs area and will make two presentations about the Syrian crisis there in addition to his appearance in Traverse City.

Rhodes’ decades of work in the Middle East is through Questscope, a nonprofit, non-governmental organization he founded and also serves as its international director. For more than 25 years, he has worked inside Jordan and Syria alongside young people whose lives have been ravaged by war and poverty – partnering with others to provide emergency assistance, alternative education and mentorship for vulnerable youth and their families.

Zehnder, who has been involved with Questscope for 20 years and is a member of the board, has been to Syria numerous times and was recently at the Za’ atari Refugee Camp in Jordan that is now the country’s fourth largest city with 800,000 Syrian refugees (half of them children).

Zehnder tells The Ticker many of the adult Syrian refugees are middle-class professionals such as teachers, nurses and the like, who are now wondering what they are going to do with their lives.

"Their lives are on hold," he says. "Questscope gives them purpose, meaning and hope."

As far as Rhodes' visit here, Zehnder notes, “It is hard to get him out of the Middle East. But he is coming here to share the story … to share the circumstances of what is going on and how people can make a difference. There are tremendous financial needs to support [aid] groups.”

Tickets to Wednesday’s event are $10 at the door; free to students and educators with ID. Half of each ticket price will go to Questscope's emergency fund for Syrian refugees in Jordan. The Utopia Foundation will also match the first $1,000 of donations made during the evening.

Photo courtesy of Questscope