Woodland Park Zoo Field Trip

On August 26th, 2010, the IRC in Seattle's Refugee Adolescent Empowerment (RAE) group went on a field trip to the Woodland Park Zoo, an urban sanctuary in Seattle which hosts animals from all over the world. This end-of-summer celebratory outing was made possible by generous ticket donations from the Woodland Park Zoo. Despite a little rain, it was a tremendous success and great fun!
 
Upon arriving at the zoo, the ladies of RAE got caught in a sudden downpour and huddled in the African Village area to escape the rain. There, they saw zebras and giraffes and also found buildings, furniture and tools which reminded many of them of the villages they left behind as refugees back "home"-- the villages of Bhutan, Eritrea, and Myanmar (Burma).
 
By the time the ladies were done reminiscing and taking photos in the African Village, the rain stopped and everyone was eager to explore the rest of the zoo. The day held many adventures for the group, including an up-close-and-personal encounter with a territorial lion and a silly baby gorilla that entertained herself by spinning in circles to get dizzy. The RAE group even got to see a live educational presentation about rapters, and big birds of prey.
 
"I really had fun at lunch just sitting and laughing and talking to everybody," said Bhagi Biswa, a freshman at Foster Senior High School in Tukwila and RAE group member.
 
Everyone left the Woodland Park Zoo exhausted from the excitement of the day, and the group agreed that in addition to seeing the sites and sounds of the animals, one of the best parts about the zoo trip was the camaraderie shared around the lunch table-- a place where girls from anywhere in the world can just be girls, together.
 
Return to the IRC in Seattle