My Refugee Week

This Refugee Week, people up and down the country were going wild with their Simple Acts. This is fantastic, a lot of schools have joined in, organisations, church groups and companies have organised activities around Simple Acts and really used them to make their Refugee Week more fun and engaging. Have a look at their notes and comments and find out how many things we've collected.

I went to visit a number of schools last week. I had the chance to see our partners from Bigfoot Education in action with their 'Think simple, act Big' programme, which is based on Simple Acts. I took part in theatre workshops at St. Mary Magdalene Primary school in Maida Vale, London, which were all about empathy and putting yourself in their shoes.

This was also the big topic for the Suitcase and Sanctuary exhibition at 19 Princelet Street in London. It was a very rare opportunity to visit this historic building on the edge of the old City of London near the Spitalfields Market.

The exhibition itself was put together by school children from Tower Hamlet, one of the most deprived areas in the UK. They have put themselves in the shoes of immigrants who might have or actually did come to stay at 19 Princelet Street over three centuries. From Huguenot silk weavers, who fled the persecution of Louis XIV and their struggle and success of making London their new home, to Irish farmers who were forced to flee starvation back home, to Jewish refugees before WWII or Caribbean immigrants in the 50s to todays newcomers.
The amazing thing for me was the similarity of the stories. The same struggle with fear, poverty, isolation, hostility, being away from home, being creative about finding opportunities of making a living, the optimism and the amazing contributions over the centuries. And yet, why does it have to be so hard over and over again??

19 Princelet Street does open its doors to groups by special arrangements and I can only recommend it. This exhibition is about London, England, the UK and far beyond. It's about how we are all shaped by influences from outside, how these influences bring progress and how little we know and care about the good things that come through immigration. It's about how much we need to celebrate their contributions. One piece of art summed up my feelings during the visit quite nicely. It was a big cushion with a Union Jack. It looked cosy and inviting but when you looked closer, it was covered with needles. Somebody must have put a lot of energy into putting all those needles into this cushion. Imagine how much good could have been done with all this energy.

tbc...

via refugeecouncil.typepad.com