Not just a Refugee!
Today is World Refugee Day, and this week is World Refugee Week. The United Nations state that "every minute 20 people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror." Can you imagine having to re-route your whole life to try and survive?
On a personal level, World Refugee Day and refugee situations in general are very close to my heart because it has directly affected my family. Coincidentally, I've also just finished reading, The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri. Review up here
The topic this year is 'You, me and those that came before' with the aim to learn from those who seeked refuge in the UK generations ago. And I felt inspired to document my Mum and Ga'mama's experience. We spoke for next to an hour about so much, and when editing our discussion I felt it was important to keep in the parts that discussed more than the trivial points such as the actual refugee process because it's easy to come across a refugee and forget that they have a story before their hardship and that they certainly have more stories to come after. My Ga'mama was a tailor and shop owner in the Seychelles. My mum a student with top grades. I don't know these two women as refugees and I was not alive to experience the initial hardship that came as a result of decisions out of their control that took their Seychellois life away from them. But what I can do is tell you about them in my own words.
My Ga'mama is a vibes. She travels worldwide frequently each year to attend religious sites in a group. If she doesn't want to be rude she remains silent, meanwhile she is the queen of pushing up her face to make it clear how she feels. (But I didn't tell you that of course.) Also, she refuses to cook certain seafood, because it doesn't taste the same quality as it does in the Seychelles!
My Mumzee is a sensitive soul and silently very supportive. When I was little she used to sit on the other side of my bedroom door going back and forth with me writing and replying to my letters. She's also introduced me to some of the best music artists ever, Jagged Edge, Biggie and Tupac. Also, she does the most random things such as opting to remove bottle lids with her teeth, just because she can. Oh and she brushes her hair way too many times throughout the day!
Whilst we were recording I could hear planes going back and forth and the irony is, where we were recording was on the same flight path that my family used when entering England in the 80s.
My Ga'mama speaks fondly of the people in the local community who made a positive difference in her adapting to life in the UK. The UK more than ever in this climate needs people like this now. With that in mind, I want to fling some seasoning your way and tell you about Local Welcome, a relatively new charity, that organise dinner cooking sessions once a month to connect refugees and locals in the community. What separates them from others is that refugees are not just handed dinner. They cook dinner alongside someone in their local community, sharing stories thoughout the experience, and then sit down together and eat dinner. Everything is on equal footing, mutually benefical and most importantly dignified.
Click play on the Soundclound link below to hear our discussion.