By: Riley Harker
Fernando Ramirez ‘82, shared his documentary, “Beyond the Statistics” with students and faculty in a discussion on displaced people from the Ukraine war on Tuesday, March 26.
Ramirez is the founder of Bridges 2030, a global nonprofit that focuses on helping forcibly displaced and disadvantaged people and inspiring the next generation to continue to make change in the world.
He created the film, “Beyond the Statistics” about the displaced Ukrainian refugee families in the Philadelphia area to educate people on the Ukrainian experience beyond just the many statistics about the horrors of the war that are constantly shared on the news.
“The main reason is, we wanted to change the narrative,” said Ramierz.
After the screening of the 30-minute documentary, there was a discussion lead by the panel of Ukrainian faculty and students. Professor Lyudmyla Ardan, Yelyzaveta Nechytailo, Yuliia Lytvnchuk, Mariia Lytvnchuk, Vlad Vashchuk and Yarik Vashchuk all spoke on their experiences living in Ukraine and what it is like to them to be here each day while a war still goes on in their home country. The students were commended for their bravery to share their stories with the audience and their desire to go back to their country when they can and help with the restoration. As Ramirez pointed out, this is the shared hope of every Ukrainian he has met thus far.
“You’re my target audience. The next generation of changemakers,” Ramirez said to the audience of students.
He spoke of his goal to educate the next generation to continue to make change and to not forget the forgotten stories. He cautioned students of the danger of compassion fatigue, with so much bad news every day in the media, but he stresses the importance of not forgetting the stories of the people who are still living this reality.
Ramirez spoke of his compassion towards the Ukrainian refugees and their stories in connection to his family’s immigration journey from Colombia to the United States.
On Wednesday, March 27, Ramirez also presented for the Latinx Initiative on how his life was changed when his family immigrated to the United States and the struggles of maintaining culture, traditions and family values. He explained how his life’s journey has led him to where he is today.
In the Bridges 2030 model, Ramirez uses the quote by Edward Everett Hale, “I am only one, but still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something.”