Local teacher releases book on Middle Eastern conflict, refugees

After learning more herself, she said she wanted to pass it on to students.

“Some students graduated recently who lived their entire lives with the war in Iraq. I felt it is important they know why the war is happening and the lives it affects,” she said.

For the past 18 years, Seger has taught modern world history, current Middle East conflicts, and U.S. History at SHS. As a Narragansett resident, the commute alone proves how much she loves SHS and its community, she said.

“Conflicts in the Middle East” is a popular course at SHS, and Seger has continued educating herself on the topic through overseas trips and guest speakers.

She draws from her travels in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, Israel, the West Bank and more to write about the conflicts in the Middle East and the struggles refugees experience as a result.

The book outlines the conflicts and lifestyles of people in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Yemen, drawing from Seger’s first-hand experience in those places or interviewing refugees.

“I heard so many inspiring stories. I wanted to give back to their efforts,” Seger said.

She said trips enhanced her teaching ability, and she interacted with students at home with a blog. She recently trained in an advanced learning program with the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, meeting Holocaust survivors and other victims of war.

Seger said her visit to the West Bank wall was life-changing, and it is important to understand both sides of the Israeli-Palestine conflict.

She reached out to refugees from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to speak with students. She said she and her class developed empathy and strong relationships with those refugees, relationships that formed the basis of her book.

“I felt that I had to do something more, something that could help other teachers who did not have the opportunities to travel as I did,” she said.

Seger teamed up with the Qatar Foundation, which helped fund the book through interviews with refugees. Some refugees refused payment, which Seger said she would then donate to refugee assistance organizations.

“The goal of the book is to offer other teachers easy access of summaries of different conflicts in a way that students could relate to,” Seger said.

“Refugee Realities” includes vocabulary, background information, guiding questions and graphic organizers for teachers. It includes first-hand accounts from refugees that Seger, and sometimes her class, conducted.

Though it took slightly less than two years to create, Seger said the project was important to her to give money back to those who helped her as well as others in need. Twenty percent of proceeds will go to refugee assistance organizations.

“It was a passion project for me, I didn’t do it for the money,” she said.

The remainder of the proceeds will go into a college fund for her children, she said, and it will also serve as a legacy of her work.

The book is published by Stillwater River Publications, and is available online at www.stillwaterpress.com, and locally at Coldbrook Café, or on Amazon.