silent voice
Amelia Shepherd
silent voice one story many lives
dedication for all of those seeking asylum and refuge everywhere
silent voice
Momo
I met Momo in Brighton. These photographs are about him, his life and experiences as an asylum seeker.
We became friends and began to talk. As I listened I became compelled to tell his story. As he spoke I became overwhelmed by his sense of isolation from everyday society and the burden of his traumatic past. A trust built up between us so that each time we met I would hear more.
I began to understand that Momo is surrounded by a world which excludes him. Trapped in the present yet not free to live within it. Rebuilding a new life has become a daily struggle as Momo searches for stability and identity in a life of transient experiences. He feels an absence from life which is only reflected in our blindness to his presence.
The invisible should not remain nameless in the fight for human rights and dignity.
Amelia Shepherd
jorge luis borges one man alone has looked on the enormity of the dawn one man alone has felt on his tongue the fresh quenching of water the flower of fruit and of flesh i speak of the unique, the single man he who is always alone
i had seen many, many things on my way to work there were dead bodies at the roadside heads placed on sticks people being killed in front of anyone both sides didn’t care, they only knew violence
two men visited me at my flat one day i went to the door - i didn’t know them they asked me to do something if i didn’t i would die
after that i never went home again i slept at work, at a friend’s, sometimes in a hotel then they caught me at work after that i knew i had to leave my country i wasn’t safe
like a fugutive, a criminal, i left
made my way to france where i knew someone
at dover they scanned this french passport i got and they caught me after detention i was put in the prison, at rochester my english was very bad i didn’t really know what was happening to me
i had nowhere to go when i left prison spending one or two nights here and there between people i hardly knew if i saw the police i had to cross the street i was scared they will see the fear in my eyes the fear that i am illegal
but i cannot go back how can i?
after three months i met someone from kosovo who helped me to get a room
i didn’t know what was wrong with me but i was really ill ill and alone
i just stayed alone in my room scared to go to the gp scared the gp would tell the police
i said to myself how did i end up like this? i will just go back home better to die there than to die here alone
i had a solicitor but for three years i heard nothing he lost all my evidence now i am trying to get a new one to help with my case it’s not easy, i tell you
i haven’t got money for things if i want to go out for coffee, meet some people how can i do it? i am not free
i feel shame
sometimes i lie i say that i am not an asylum seeker, a refugee sometimes i say i am french
i do not belong anywhere, anymore