To the editor:

The plight of uprooted individuals around the world is a topic too often overlooked. The Journal-World’s July 24 feature story about Ellie Ott, a Free State High School alumnus who spent part of her summer volunteering at the Kala Refugee Camp in Zambia, provided insight into this unseen tragedy.

The Journal-World’s account of Ott’s work accurately described the kind of conditions that force individuals to flee their homes. The article touched on some of the horrors that refugees endure, including rape, torture and the loss of family. But there are also many refugees who are able to recover and build new lives for themselves with the help of the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) and charitable individuals like Ott. Worldwide, UNHCR is working to help more than 20 million people, each with a different tale of loss and survival.

Tim Irwin,

the U.N. Refugee Agency,

Washington, D.C.