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'From Refugee to Refuge': Think Human Global Initiative's Raveen Arora

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Many immigrants’ rights supporters implore people to think of immigrants not in terms of nationality or country of origin, but rather, simply as fellow human beings.

Empathy towards other fellow humans is at the heart of RaveenArora’s message. Arora is a former refugee, who once worked with Mother Teresa and now lives in Arizona and heads the Think Human Global Initiative.

"Once a refugee, people say you’re always a refugee.  But I wear that badge of honor - gracefully - because it shows courage, it shows strength, it shows victory, that you have taken a stand not to be oppressed," says Arora.

He notes that his experience as a refugee has taught him resilience, tolerance, patience, and understanding - the core of what he wants to teach others. "My purpose in humanitarian work is to be human and to be humane to understand."

Arora was in Milwaukee as the keynote speaker at the International Institute of Wisconsin’s World Citizen Celebration and he joined Lake Effect's Mitch Teich in the studio ahead of that event to discuss his life's work: