Across Miles, Across Hearts: A 48-Hour Visit That Sparked Compassion

Jordan Hattar with HS students who participated the lunch panel during his visit

A short 48-hour visit to Concordia inspired numerous students to join the Help4Refugees movement.

Mr. Jordan has always been a person of immense character. He dedicates himself to bridging the gap between refugees and the global community, having visited over 140 schools to date. We were honored to have Concordia included as one of his many destinations.

During his visit, we connected with refugees in a truly unique way. Although thousands of miles separated us, live Zoom calls bridged the distance, making the experience feel immediate and deeply personal. Beyond the high school, Mr. Jordan also made special appearances at middle school assemblies and in various classrooms, reinforcing the idea that empathy for refugees should not be limited to adults, but rather embraced by every global citizen, regardless of age.

For many students, the presentation was a profound “first.” While some had read about the refugee crisis in books like Refugee Boy, most shared that they had never actually spoken to a refugee or witnessed their daily realities firsthand. The assembly transformed “refugees” from a distant, abstract concept into a lived human experience. Students expressed that the encounter allowed them to step into others’ shoes, moving beyond facts and statistics to understand the emotional weight of surviving natural disasters and war. One student reflected, “I never really focused on refugees before, and I like how we could see from their point of view,” while another shared how the presentation helped them “look at the world” through a more compassionate lens.

The visit from Mr. Hattar and the Help4Refugees movement did more than simply raise awareness; it cultivated a lasting sense of global responsibility. Whether witnessing the joy on a child’s face when receiving care or learning about the struggle for survival after an earthquake, the Concordia community walked away with a shared understanding: empathy is an action, and even the smallest contributions can create meaningful change.

This spirit of connection continued during a lunch panel open to high school students, where Mr. Jordan joined alongside refugees whom student leaders had met during the Turkey fellowship the previous summer. Despite the physical distance, the bonds between them remained genuine and heartfelt. In a particularly moving moment, student leaders surprised Shahd, a refugee currently attending university in Turkey who dreams of becoming a photographer, with a camera purchased using funds raised throughout the year. The radiant smile on her face captured the heart of Help4Refugees — an initiative not merely focused on aid, but rooted in building lasting relationships and shared hope.