Iraqi Voices Amplification Project Trip a Success!
The IVAP team and the Iraqi Student Project learn a traditional Iraqi dance during a trip to Bosra.
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...They met with Iraqi families in their homes, community centers and resettlement offices. The days were long and the stories were heart-wrenching.
October found Intersections staff C. Eduardo Vargas and Megan Hoelle, along with six artists, in conversation with Iraqi refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. The purpose of the Oct. 1-17 trip was to allow the artists, upon their return home, to create works based on their experiences as a means of amplifying the refugees' voices.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 2.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes since the start of the war in 2003. Many live in unstable situations in these host countries, unable to work, access social services or send their children to school. Most are dependant on humanitarian assistance to meet basic needs, a solution that is neither sustainable nor sufficient. While the majority of the Iraqis shares the dream of resettlement, to date only around 4 percent have been resettled.
These were some of the challenges conveyed to choreographer Paul Gordon, vocalist Ami Gaston, videographer Tim Frakes, media messaging expert Michael Jordan, photographer Alissa Everett, journalist Kathryn Schulz, playwright Kim Schultz and dancer Kathryn Pilkington as they met with Iraqi families in their homes, community centers and resettlement offices. The days were long and the stories were heart-wrenching. The group has just begun to convey the experience.
The best way to experience a piece of what the group experienced on its journey is to hear from the artists themselves. Below are a few of the highlights from each country, as captured in the trip blog. We invite you to check them out:
Lebanon
Learn more about the anatomy of this crisis in Refugee Geography 101 by Kathryn Schulz
See an Iraqi child in Eyes of a Child by Alissa Everett
Read reflections on the power of the arts in Music as Medicine by Ami Gaston
Hear the story of one Iraqi in Peter by Tim Frakes
Jordan
Read the messages Iraqis wanted to take to the president in Letters to Obama by Michael Jordan
See artistic drawings of the people we met in Refuge Sketches by Paul Gordon
Hear the music of one Iraqi pianist in Dreams of a Refugee Pianist by Kathryn Pilkington
Syria
Read an overview of the situation in Syria in Final Thoughts from Syria by Kathryn Schulz
Learn more about the challenges in telling the stories of a people in hiding in Can we Show your Face? by Megan Hoelle
Watch a video about an organization trying to help Iraqi students get a second chance at an education in Iraqi Student Project by Tim Frakes