Project With Youth Refugees

The city of Mytilini, on the island of Lesvos, Greece, is a temporary home for thousands of refugees. We had the honor of working with a group of unaccompanied minors staying in a shelter for boys. Our students escaped violence and persecution in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Now, their future is uncertain, but they are for the most part happy to be safe and warm with lots of caring adults supporting them.

Our primary collaborator for this project was International Rescue Committee. Also, the shelter, a community center MOSAIK, an art studio ArtLab, our translator Hassan, and Translators Without Borders all played important roles supporting the project.

Our students were amazing. At first some were tentative, as they have endured so much and building trust was important. By the end of the week, cameras, computers, microphones and even charcoal were being used prolifically by the students as they felt their deadline and refined their stories with lots of youthful energy. The shelter hosted a screening and hung a print show of 30 photographs to honor their work. We are so proud of our students.

The students narrated their stories in Farsi, Arabic, and English. Translators Without Borders then provided english subtitles Our project webpage shows them all. Here are a couple selections:

"A Journey Without Family" by Hosein (04:28). Charcoal drawings with narration in English.

"One Day In My Life in Greece" by Feridoon (04:05). Photo and video with Farsi narration, English subtitles.

Below, please enjoy photographs taken by our students.

Thank you for your contributions to this World Story Exchange project.

Sincerely,

Scott and Lindsay