truly sad and awful story.
this story recently reported in the ajc absolutely punched me in the gut:
Just 12 days after she and her family moved to Clarkston from Nepal for a “better life,” 6-year-old Sukmaya Mager was dead, run down by an SUV driver illegally passing a stopped MARTA bus, police said.
Six-year-old Sukmaya Mager died Wednesday of her injuries after being struck by a vehicle when she got off a MARTA bus. A Newton County man allegedly passed the bus on the wrong side of the road, hitting the Clarkston girl.
“Today would have been her first day at Indian Creek Elementary,” Clarkston Police Chief Tony Scipio told reporters Wednesday, just hours after Sukmaya died of head and internal injuries.
Her parents and her 10-year-old brother, refugees relocated to the Atlanta suburb, are in “disbelief”, the chief said. They don’t understand U.S. laws and culture, they do not speak English and they have no relatives here, according to Scipio.
so much about it just saddens me. an innocent little girl, leaving a war-torn past behind. starting out here in the land of opportunity and being killed by that most quintessential of american sins; impatience.
maybe it’s because i ride marta almost every day that this affected me so much. i see it too; people who fly around marta buses, because they just can’t be incovneienced to wait an extra three or four minutes while the bus stops to let people off. maybe it’s because i walk a lot to, and have almost been run down in crosswalks by people not looking coming off of stop signs.
i don’t know for sure, but this story really, really affected me.
i found out about it from creative loafing author andy nouraee on his twitter feed, and andy dug up some information on the international rescue committee here in atlanta that was responsible for resettling this family and sent it along to me. i made a donation this morning is sukmaya mager’s honor, hoping that maybe some of that money can be used to help that family in this tragedy.
one thing to note as well, everyone the irc settles is here in this country legally as a refugee. the us accepts thousands of war refugees from all over the world every year.
maybe you could consider doing the same.
here is the link again:
