Paul Alkhudary

Hello (Marhaba: مرحبا) I have been working at IKEA Cardiff as a Kitchen Specialist for more than two year. I grew up in Lebanon during the civil war period and was a child refugee during some period in my life during the Lebanese civil war which lasted for more than two decades. Due to the instability in the region I pursued some of my education in the United States, however I decided to come back to Lebanon to finish my Bachelor of Architecture. I immigrated to Canada seeking a more stable place to live and have my own family after having worked in the Middle East. The financial crises at the time caused me to come to the UK, where my wife is originally from, after I got a job opportunity in the UK in 2010. Being a refugee when I was a child will help me to understand what the children in Vietnam might be going through and be able to represent IKEA as an ambassador by best acknowledging and recognizing what the children are going through and communicating this experience to my co-workers. I also have a strong feeling of wanting to help children being a father of two daughters. The war, and being a refugee myself had enhanced my creativity due to the scarcity, and I have used the creativity tool to find ways and avenues to survive, play, and connect with people, without denial of the negative impact being a refugee had on me and has on people. I’m a strong believer that small interventions can create a great impact and influence people’s lives and I seek to put this into practice, by connecting with the children I will meet and share this experience with the people at work and outside work. I also believe that scarcity among refugees can be a strong motive for sustainability and I strive to use creativity to share ideas of sustainability with the children I meet and represent IKEA’s vision within this context. This might allow the feeling of HOPE which aid in sustaining the children’s lives, not only from a physical perspective, but also from an emotional perspective. I contribute to food charities in Cardiff, support to advocate for refugees, and vulnerable refugee women, helped and supported refugees in Lebanon and Syria, a member of The Woodland Trust, serve free food and meals for the community, collaborated with the UNDP (United Nations Development Projects) on development projects in Lebanon, and the DAAD (German Governmental Organization) on a social/urban study for ten cities in Germany. Art in its different media is a powerful tool to communicate ideas, experience and thoughts, and influence people. I seek to use the art tool to reflect on my IWItness visit to Vietnam.