Mapping Memories: Participatory Media, Place Based Stories & Refugee Youth by Jeff Traynor

MAPPING MEMORIES: PARTICIPATORY MEDIA, PLACE-BASED STORIES & REFUGEE YOUTH www.mappingmemories.ca

Written by: Liz Miller with Michele Luchs and Gracia Dyer Jalea Edited by: Michele Luchs and Liz Miller Additional Writing: Michelle Smith, Colleen French, Cynthia Beaudry, Sandra Gasana, Steve High Additional Editing: Kevin Stanley, Cynthia Beaudry, Virginia Bruman, Colleen French, Deborah VanSlet Participant Contributors: Yassin Alsalman, Samantha Columbon, Ayanda Dube, Aamail Esmer, Stephanie Gasana, Deeqa Ibrahim, Erasmo López V, Vox Sambou, Marie-Francoise Ilunga Sitman, Leontine Umubyeyi. Several participants have changed their names or preferred to remain anonymous. Designed by: Mél Hogan (archinodes.com) Copy Edited by: Tamara Shepherd InDesign Editing: Momoko Allard Photography by: Anne-Renee Hotte, David Ward/lab six and a half, Liz Miller, Deborah VanSlet, Matha Stiegman, Cynthia D’Cruz, Josée Pednault, Suhail AbualSameed, Quentin Rameau Mapping Memories Facilitation Team: Gracia Dyer Jalea, Colleen French, Michele Luchs, Liz Miller, Martha Stiegman, Suhail AbualSameed, Sylvain Thibault Funding provided by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Additional support provided by Concordia University and the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling.

REFUGEE YOUTH & PARTICIPATORY PRACTICE

THE FIRST DOOR: FINDING HOME IN A NEW PLACE

GOING PLACES: CONNECTING PERSONAL STORIES TO PUBLIC SPACES

ROOTS TO RAP WITH: EXPRESSING IDENTITY THROUGH MUSIC

QUEER IS IN THE EYE OF THE NEWCOMER: IDENTITY, BELONGING, AND PLACE

SHARING PARTICIPATORY PROJECTS WITH A WIDER AUDIENCE

6–13

14–47

48–89

90–117

118–147

148–160

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK This book/DVD/website is designed for anyone wanting to engage in collaborative media projects involving creative self-expression and public advocacy, including educators, youth advocates, social workers, researchers, and media facilitators. Each chapter is organized around a central theme relevant to the immigrant or refugee experience and applicable to a larger public. Chapter 1 focuses on home and the experience of having to leave and then recreate home in a new place. Chapter 2 explores the connection of memory to place and the value of discovering our family histories. Chapter 3 explores life stories and how youth use music to keep their multiple cultural identities alive. Chapter 4 examines how stories can be used to counter biases and also addresses the unique circumstances of refugee youth fleeing their countries because of their sexual orientation. The stories featured can be presented in classrooms, libraries, community centres, or even in auditoriums. What is important is to connect them to deeper learning about forced migration, our own neighbourhoods, and the people around us. The activities can be integrated into existing curricula or can be used to develop workshops that build empathy around the experiences of youth with refugee experiences and other groups facing oppression and adversity.

WHAT DOES ‘MAPPING A MEMORY’ MEAN? Throughout the book we use the term ‘map’ to describe the process of connecting personal experiences to places of significance. For example, when we asked participants to draw an image of home and then tell us about a story, we called these personal maps. We also worked with participants to map their stories using geographical coordinates. A mapping method is intended to help individuals locate the relationship between the past and the present, the personal and the collective, and in doing so, visualize new connections.

Throughout this book, the web icon indicates that the digital story, documentary, or workshop resource is available on our website.

www.mappingmemories.ca

PREFACE Mapping Memories brought together Montreal-based educators, filmmakers, policy advocates, organizers, students, and youth to develop participatory media projects for youth with refugee experiences. Through these workshops, we hoped to offer individuals a chance to reflect on their unique experiences, to learn new media skills, to work in collaboration with each other, to strengthen peer networks, and to express themselves creatively as they shaped their narratives using different sorts of media. This book brings together the powerful work that resulted from media workshops, as well as the collective experience of our participants and partners working in the area of migration and refugee rights. While migration is one of the biggest issues of our time, few of us really understand the challenges that youth refugees encounter. All too often, refugee narratives are written by writers or journalists who stress the violence an individual has endured, without also depicting their strength in the face of adversity. These representations, while accurate, focus on the individual as a victim and risk perpetuating stereotypes. By shaping their own narratives, youth with refugee experience can emphasize their resilience and build public understanding of some of the realities they face. Confronting adversity is not unique to refugee youth, and we hope these portraits will inspire other young people to share their stories and in doing so discover their own capacities to work through difficult situations. This book/DVD/website also offers behind-the-scenes insights into how we planned projects, the technology we used, and what ethical considerations came into play. For teachers and facilitators who want to initiate similar storytelling projects on migration or other themes of their choice, we have developed step-by-step guidelines, handouts, and a wealth of samples from our workshops. These resources are designed to support activities of varying scale, using low or high tech tools.

METHODS »» drawing

»» immersive audio bus tours

»» photography

»» walking tours

»» memoryscapes

»» music videos

»» digital cartography

»» life stories

â&#x20AC;&#x153; MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

A collaborative creative process, regardless of the technologies utilized, provides an opportunity for individuals to reflect on how their personal narratives are connected to larger social concerns. Michele Luchs and Liz Miller

REFUGEE YOUTH & PARTICIPATORY PRACTICE OUR MANDATE The past few years have seen a progressive expansion in the participatory possibilities of audiovisual media, with increased access to recording devices, editing facilities, and digital cartography. The explosion of social media has encouraged youth from around the world to explore how their personal and public voices can make a difference. The tools are increasingly available and the channels are there to get the work out; the potential of media to inform and enlighten appears limitless. At the same time, rapid advances in media technology are encouraging all of us to rethink notions of literacy and to adapt our curricula and projects accordingly. If the next generation is watching, listening, and producing as much as they are reading, we must develop new tools for critical literacy and for understanding the terms of these tools and platforms. Integrating these tools into the classroom or community group, in combination with personal narratives, is a meaningful way to broaden notions of literacy, to introduce critical social issues, and to raise questions around voice, truth, ethics, history, and intellectual property.

WHO IS A YOUTH? For statistical purposes, the United Nations defines â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;youthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; as those persons between 15 and 24 years of age (see www.un.org). For our project, we worked primarily with individuals ranging from 16 to 30 years old.

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When we began this project, we had a series of burning questions: How can innovative trends in technology such as digital mapping and place-based media shed light on personal and social histories, as well as issues such as globalization and migration? How can a participatory media process help newcomer youth articulate their voices and find commonalities in a period of transition? What must we be cautious about when navigating this seemingly democratized, utopian terrain of creation and distribution when dealing with difficult stories? This book/DVD/website is our collective answer to these questions.

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES THAT YOUTH WITH REFUGEE EXPERIENCE FACE IN ARRIVING TO CANADA? The young individuals involved in our workshops were forced to flee their countries for diverse reasons, including gendered violence, persecution based on sexual orientation, and violence as a result of armed conflict. We hope that the diversity of their experiences helps to demystify what it means to be a refugee or to be impacted by refugee experiences. Additionally, we want to spread awareness of the specific needs of newcomer youth who often

arrive alone, who are often forced to forego their studies, and who benefit immediately from sensitive teachers, facilitators, and compassionate peers. For example, unaccompanied minors begin their adult lives without a supportive community, and because of this, integration services for young individuals are particularly essential. Finally, very few resources are available regarding the narratives and needs of individuals fleeing their countries because of gendered violence or sexual orientation, and this project provides a unique contribution to the understanding of LGBTQ refugee concerns.

YOUTH WITH REFUGEE EXPERIENCE

WHY ENGAGE IN A PARTICIPATORY MEDIA PROJECT? A participatory media project can provide many benefits to an individual or community, but it does involve a lot of work. We suggest that before taking on the challenge of a participatory media project, you consider your specific goals. Are you hoping to: »» train individuals in new technical skills? »» strengthen language and writing skills? »» offer a class or community group a new way to collaborate? »» introduce media literacy concepts and skills?

Several of the participants involved in our projects were the sisters, brothers, or children of refugees. For this reason we often use the term youth with refugee experience to include those who may not technically have applied as a refugee but were touched by a refugee experience. The stories of uprooting and rerooting told by youth from Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Haiti, Sri Lanka, and other countries address migration, family, home, adversity, and change, themes that are relevant to all of us.

»» foster team-building? »» develop leadership skills? »» integrate finished work into an advocacy or educational campaign?

While a media project can indeed meet many of these goals, knowing what is most important in advance will help shape your program and determine who else will be involved and in what capacity.

WHAT IS PARTICIPATORY MEDIA? Participatory media has become a bit of a catch-all phrase for media creation and exchanges that challenge divisions between audience and creators, such as mashups, wikis and more. For this project, we use the term to describe a process that involves individuals in the creation of their own personal narratives. The process offers individuals who are often misrepresented in mainstream media a chance to find their voice, develop new skills, and become storytellers, filmmakers, or photographers. The process is about reclaiming voice and representation and involves ethics, advocacy, and collaboration. While new media tools are the current rage, participatory media practices have a long history. Some of the earliest participatory projects date back to the Challenge for Change program of the 1960s, a participatory film and video project of The National Film Board of Canada. PhotoVoice, a project originating in England and now a method practiced around the world, greatly expanded the field of participatory photography projects (see Chapter 3).

MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

More recently, technologies of mobility (cell phones, GPS mapping devices, etc.) are presenting new opportunities to both creators and audiences. In place-based media, neighbourhoods and surroundings can become visual or auditory prompts for digital storytellers. Exciting opportunities also exist for audience members who can

walk in the footsteps of the storytellers through actual guides or with the support of mp3 players, GPS technology, and smart phones. The possibilities for participatory and place-based media are indeed exciting, and at the same time, the technology is only a small part of a participatory media process. The tools selected for a project should be adapted to the group involved and should remain available to participants once the workshop is over. We often chose to use free, open-source technology to ensure that participants could access the software programs at any time after the sessions (visit our website for tips and tools). A collaborative creative process, regardless of the technology utilized (still cameras, video, audio, digital mapping technologies, etc.), provides an opportunity for individuals to reflect on how their personal narratives are connected to larger social concerns. A participatory process also offers participants a say in how the work is presented and distributed. We believe that participation should take place at every phase of the project â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from initial planning, to recruitment, to the development of goals, to production, and dissemination. This form of shared authority and involvement is key to building relationships founded on trust and mutual respect.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR WORKING WITH INDIVIDUALS WITH DIFFICULT STORIES: »» Warn participants before any workshop that creative projects can bring up difficult emotions. »» Offer participants resources they can turn to, should they need additional support. »» Explain to participants that as a teacher or facilitator, it is your responsibility to seek additional support if you feel the individual is at risk in any way. »» Be respectful of participants’ privacy and be sure to offer a wide range of exercises so that they do not feel obliged to share stories if they are not ready. »» If any individuals are in the midst of refugee application processes, consult with their lawyers before sharing their stories with a wider public. »» Involve community members who are offering direct support to your participants in your workshops to help develop an environment of trust.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES Mutual respect and shared ownership served as our guiding principles. The list below, developed by Michele Smith and Liz Miller for working with aboriginal and refugee youth, provides an ethical framework for setting up similar participatory projects. Guidelines are particularly important when working with communities that have struggled with past traumas, or those that continue to struggle with the preservation of knowledge and identity. Community-initiated Community members are involved from the outset in the project design, development of parameters and focus areas, and distribution goals. Ideally the project is initiated by community members with the media facilitator brought in to assist group members in realizing their goals. Shared Authority The participatory media project is a joint venture between the participants and the media facilitator. They may have different roles within the process, but they are considered to be equal partners with an equal say in how the project will unfold. Shared Goals The goals and objectives of a project are determined at the project outset with the community members and participants. Is the purpose of the project to impact policy? Strengthen an advocacy campaign? Build membership? Foster knowledge preservation? Project goals will help determine the type and scope of dissemination efforts. Shared Ownership and Authorship The project is jointly owned. Participants co-own the final product and have shared control over the distribution of both their knowledge and representation. Community or traditional knowledge is honoured and shared throughout the process, and a project may involve multiple authors. Ideally co-ownership and co-authorship are formalized in a contract. Individual vs. Collective Participation and Impact Often the broader community in question, beyond the individual participants, will have a stake in the project process and outcome. This entails finding a meaningful place for community members, advocates and service providers to be involved in the project. This also involves finding balance between the needs and goals of individual participants and the broader community. MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

Many of these principles are challenged and pressed as they bump up against the messiness and politics of collaboration. Group dynamics, individual limitations, access to resources, past and ongoing injustices, and the institutions with which we may be embroiled all have an impact on how a project will unfold. Navigating this terrain of contradictions and inconsistencies involves being prepared to negotiate and renegotiate terms and parameters over the course of a project.

PARTNERS The narratives featured in this book are the result of unique collaborations between community organizations serving and representing refugee groups in Montreal, advocacy and educational experts, and two Montreal-based research projects originating at Concordia University: Mapping Memories and Life Stories of Montreal.

EDUCATION Mapping Memories was a four-year, government funded participatory research-creation project based at Concordia University that explored how personal stories and a range of media tools (video, sound walks, mapping, photography) could empower and bring the voices and the experiences of refugee youth in Canada to the larger public. Liz Miller was the Principal Researcher on this project (www. mappingmemories.ca). Life Stories of Montreal, a five-year university and community oral history initiative, is collaborating with refugee communities to record their own life stories in order to build understanding about Montrealers displaced by war, genocide, and other human rights violations. Mapping Memories initiated a refugee youth working group within this unique community/university collaboration to ensure a youth perspective and to adapt the form of the Life Story so that youth would be inclined to participate. The project is based at the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling, with Principal Researcher Steve High (www.lifestories.org). Shaping Education: Making Media Literacies was also involved in the design of workshops and helped us to explore how these stories and projects would be integrated into classrooms around the country. The Executive Director of the group is Michele Luchs.

DIRECT SERVICE For each project we partnered with a host organization, which provided direct services to youth with refugee

Project Refuge (Chapter 1), a temporary residence for newcomers. www. montrealcitymission.org

experience. By offering guidance and support to participants throughout each project, our community partners provided the essential ingredient to any participatory project, the ‘trust factor.’

POLICY The Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) is a non-profit umbrella organization committed to the rights and protection of refugees in Canada and around the world, and to the settlement of refugees and immigrants in Canada. They have initiated a youth network on refugee and immigration issues across Canada. In addition to providing contacts and resources, the CCR helped us position personal stories within the larger framework of refugee rights. Our principal collaborator at the CCR was Communication and Networking Coordinator Colleen French (www.ccrweb.ca).

OUTREACH LEARN, a non-profit organization that offers innovative programs to Anglophone teachers and students across Quebec, is working with Mapping Memories to train youth participants in workshop facilitation and to organize school visits in different parts of the province.

YWCA of Montreal (Chapter 2), an organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls. www. ydesfemmesmtl.org

Côte-des-Neiges Youth Centre (Chapter 3), a centre that provides youth with various artbased activities. www. mdjcdn.wordpress.com

Express (Chapter 4), a support group for LGBTQ Youth Refugees in Toronto. www. soytoronto.org

AGIR (Chapter 4), a LGBTQ support group in Montreal. www. agir-quebec.info

“

They have taken my home but they can’t take my future. As refugees flee persecution and conflict, they lose their home and all that this entails – family, friends, work, community and culture. (www.unhcr.ca)

THE FIRST DOOR:

FINDING HOME IN A NEW PLACE

WHAT IS HOME? What is the first place you would call home? Is home a place? A person? How has your idea of home changed over time? Have you ever had to leave home? Was it your decision? Sharing stories about home is a good starting place to begin a creative project. Most of us have stories about home â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a past or present home, a home we were forced to leave, a home we want to create. Home is a common denominator that connects us to each other and taps into what matters to each of us.

MAPPING MEMORIES

01 02 03 04 05 06

TELL ME A STORY:

DIGITAL STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS AT MAISON HAIDAR, A RESIDENCE FOR REFUGEES Michele Luchs and Liz Miller

OVERVIEW Over the course of a year, Mapping Memories collaborated with Maison Haidar, a residence for newly arrived refugee claimants. Together with the Canadian Council for Refugees and student volunteers, we conducted weekend workshops in mapping, digital storytelling, and still photography involving over 200 young men. In addition to the workshops, we created The First Door, a documentary that profiles Coordinator Sylvain Thibault along with three remarkable individuals who have passed through Maison Haidar upon arrival in Montreal.

Maison Haidar is part of Project Refuge, a program in Montreal that provides a secure residence and emotional support to men who have fled traumatic situations in their home countries. In operation for twenty years, Project Refuge is one of many programs coordinated by the Montreal City Mission, an organization that offers a wide range of services for asylum seekers. Project Refuge also helps newcomers to identify individuals, networks, and resources to carry them through the challenging process of integration.

LEADING WORKSHOPS AT A REFUGEE RESIDENCE Our digital story and photography workshop, Tell Me a Story, was one of a series that Project Refuge Coordinator, Sylvain Thibault, organized for both newcomers and former residents of Maison Haidar. The workshops covered subjects ranging from the history of social movements in Montreal to finding employment, and they are among the many activities Sylvain has coordinated to develop peer networks and to help individuals establish themselves in a new home, Montreal. When Sylvain first approached Mapping Memories to be a part of his workshop series, we were eager to collaborate. While our projects had been directed toward youth, Project Refuge offered us a chance to work in an intergenerational context without the rigors of recruiting, since Sylvain had a ready-made group. Together we wanted to offer opportunities for these men to share stories and in doing so, to strengthen their relationships with each other.

MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

We also wanted to see if the work produced might eventually reach a larger public, addressing systemic problems in the immigration system or countering stereotypes about refugees. Sylvain had expressed his frustration that the public was insensitive to changes around immigration policy and that, too often, news stories framed individuals as victims instead of focusing on how they were adapting to a new place. Participatory media projects offer an opportunity to address the gap between mass media representations and lived experiences, since

individuals have a chance to frame their own stories. But would individuals who had just arrived want to be involved in a project like this? Was it too soon, given that most of them had only been in Montreal for a few weeks? We began the workshops with these concerns, and so to guide our process we came up with a set of questions: How will this workshop benefit the individuals? How can we ensure that newcomers are ready to share their stories? Can the project also benefit a larger public? What is the balance between a meaningful process and a polished media project that can reach a larger audience?

KEY FACTORS FOR A SUCCESSFUL WORKSHOP Over the years we have discovered a number of key factors that must be in place for a workshop to be successful. One factor is to use the technology that works best within a given context. In this case, we wanted to ensure the greatest participation possible within a limited time frame. Given these constraints, cameras, pens, and paper were the most appropriate tools to lead these workshops. Another key principle we have discovered is the importance of developing media projects over time. When we first began planning with Sylvain, our hope was to work with a small group over four or five sessions. We intended to move from initial activities like photography to digital mapping, peer video interviews, and more. We quickly realized that this would not be possible due to the transitional nature of the shelter. Because residents couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stay at the centre

for more than three weeks, Sylvain simply could not guarantee ongoing participation of individuals from one workshop to the next. Instead of a series, our workshop became a one-time session with its own unique challenges. On a practical pedagogical level, for example, it was difficult to plan a workshop without knowing the language and literacy needs of a group, or even the number of individuals who might show up each week. An additional concern was how to ensure ‘shared ownership’ of a product created in the workshop if we might never meet these individuals again. The photo essays would stay at the residence for others to appreciate, but was that enough? With full acknowledgement that participatory media projects are most effective when they evolve over time, we came to view the workshops as a first step in our collaboration with Sylvain. In addition to providing the space and recruiting past and present residents for the workshops, Sylvain organized social work student volunteers to help out during the sessions, along with our partner Colleen French of the Canadian Council for Refugees. Sylvain and the co-facilitators participated enthusiastically in the activities and helped lead the workshops. Most importantly, Sylvain was a visible support person for every individual in the room, providing what we called the ‘trust factor’ in the equation. The presence of a key individual in whom participants trust is pivotal to the success of a participatory media project. In fact, of all the factors needed for a successful workshop, the ‘trust factor’ is the most essential.

FACTORS FOR A SUCCESSFUL WORKSHOP »» Clear objectives »» Engaging and organized facilitation that makes all participants feel comfortable »» Realistic expectations with regard to time »» Stimulating activities adjusted to the needs of participants »» Activities that allow participants to work together »» An inviting space with snacks and drinks available »» Technology that has been tested in advance »» Adequate materials (e.g., handouts, equipment, paper, cameras, etc.)

MAPPING A MEMORY EXERCISE We organized the one-day workshops into two main exercises: mapping and photo-stories. In the first part, participants individually drew personal maps with magic markers on 11”x17” paper about a place they called home or about their journey to Montreal. They used the maps as a backdrop to share the stories with the rest of the group, which often included up to forty participants coming from Rwanda, Congo, Afghanistan, Colombia, and other countries. Before beginning the activity, we presented models of maps from past sessions to show examples of what others had done during the mapping exercise. We explained that after drawing their map, they should write details to help readers imagine the space: recurrent sounds (birds chirping, or the sound of children playing),

These are the images in my head thinking about the genocide of our community. I remember my house that stayed empty after the genocide. I also remember the cultural events and young girls dancing. Translation from map, below:

MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

colours that stood out, smells they remembered, and so on. We also asked them to write their names and countries of origin on their maps, unless they preferred to remain anonymous, which was also fine.

one small room. The images were compelling and served as visual cues for the speakers as they shared their stories with the group. The drawings were also catalysts for the audience to ask follow-up questions.

Although the men seemed uncomfortable initially with a drawing exercise, once they began, the room warmed up with fully engaged participants. The room became especially lively while sharing the stories in groups of eight to ten. As more participants around the table spoke, the stories grew more intricate, spurred on by questions from other participants, nodding heads and attentive eyes. The maps were useful for communicating across cultural and language barriers, which was essential given how many languages we were negotiating in

The stories and maps had common elements. Many participants drew places where they felt a sense of peace. In some of the maps, nature played a strong role, with paths through the woods on the way to school, fishing and swimming in the sea, and pastoral scenes with wild bursts of colour. But not all of the maps depicted pleasant memories (see examples below). What the participants also had in common was a lived experience of dislocation caused by persecution or the threat of violence. For example,

one young man from Rwanda drew a village scene split into three parts: his familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home, a community event with dancers in traditional costumes, and in the corner, his three dead brothers lying side by side. In maps of their journeys to Montreal, crisscrossed lines revealed hiding places and arduous paths over land and water before arriving in the city. It had taken some participants years to get to Montreal, and in many cases we were meeting them only days after their arrival. Over time, we gleaned insights on how to best facilitate the group discussions with the limited time we had with the men. There was a fragile balance between respecting someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s privacy and providing a collective space for participants

to share a part of themselves. To strike this balance in our workshops, we found it helpful to focus discussions on the resources participants had discovered in their first few days or weeks in the city to help them adjust. Instead of emphasizing the pain of the recent past, we facilitated discussions around strategies of survival. We also had a list of psychological services, developed by the Life Stories Project, to which we could direct participants if overwhelming emotional issues surfaced within the workshop. And while the list was important to have on hand, what was most important was to have Sylvain in the room, as someone who the participants knew and trusted and who would be around after the workshops.

A PHOTO STORY IN FOUR FRAMES

PowerPoint on Composition

aspect took some of the burden away from those who were hesitant to take their story public.

During the second part of the workshop, participants worked in groups of three to create photo stories. The groups were organized primarily by language. The idea was to find a collective story about the departure from their country or arrival in Montreal. Before beginning the activity, we shared a PowerPoint about basic photo composition and showed models of photo stories created in past workshops. Using their maps as a starting point, groups would decide on a story to tell together. A key part of the production process was to provide time for the small groups to brainstorm ideas. This part of the workshop helped participants realize how much they had in common as they shared and discussed story ideas. By creating a new story based on their shared experiences or by emphasizing one of the stories told in the small groups, the collective

STORYBOARDS »» A storyboard is a mock up of your story. It helps you organize your thoughts and consider how a series of photos or video shots will look together.

MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

»» Fold a blank paper into four squares and open it. Try imagining the first or last shot and draw it (using stick figures). How do you want to introduce the story? What is the last photo? What do you want your audience to walk away with? »» Keep in mind that it’s not important how well you draw but how well you communicate your vision to others.

After deciding on one story idea, they would storyboard their ideas by drafting the scale and perspective they hoped to capture with the photographs. Storyboarding is a technique primarily used by filmmakers and more recently by writers and other artists to visualize a project. Storyboarding helped our groups to negotiate a collective vision and see if the proposed images would work together. Storyboarding also allowed us as facilitators to see if the participants had grasped the concepts introduced in the composition presentation. The next production step was taking the photographs sketched out in the storyboards. We made ourselves available to help with photo composition techniques and to offer creative consultations. Towards the end of the workshop, each group downloaded and organized their

»» Consider important details, like who is present in each frame, where is it shot, is the frame a close up or long shot and what is in the foreground? Background? »» Remember you only have four frames, so every shot is important. »» Make sure to vary your shots so that your work is more interesting for your audience. »» Only use the camera once you have completed your storyboard. »» Use the storyboard as a reference point during the shoot, but leave room for improvisation.

photos on a computer. They chose the best four photos for their story, and we projected each story on the wall. As group members shared the story behind the photos, the projects became even more emotionally compelling. We were all surprised at how effective the finished pieces were in communicating a mood, and at how the photos seemed to move the group to a new place of intimacy. The collective stories addressed common themes: leaving home, arrival, finding shelter, memories

from home, hope, and integrating into a new city. Humour was a part of many stories; participants recounted experiences of losing their way in the metro system or feeling lost inside huge winter jackets, as they faced their first cold winter season. Other stories told of the pain and anger from being in detention, or worries about being accepted by Canadian immigration authorities. Simple gestures were especially effective. For example, in one essay a man with closed eyes lovingly held a winter coat given

A Difficult Goodbye photo-essay by workshop participants

to him to keep him warm by his wife whom he had left behind. The gesture spoke to his desire to hold onto her presence in his new life. Many of the photo stories also included arrivals at the Maison Haidar residence. Smiling faces, hands shaking, hands on shoulders, and photos of groups eating meals around tables were common endings to these stories. The stories were yet another catalyst for discovering commonalities, as the men shared the pain of having left people behind (spouses, children, parents). They also acknowledged their anxieties about dealing with upcoming challenges, such as finding housing and employment as well as facing the expectations of extended family members in their countries of origin who they feared they might disappoint.

VALUABLE LESSONS

MAPPING MEMORIES

With each workshop we gained clarity on the elements that led to the best workshops. For example, taking the time to fully explain the production process and to share and discuss photos was key to the creation of strong photo projects. We learned this the hard way during one workshop when we were short on time. We hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t shown enough examples of past projects or properly shown the participants how to use the cameras. And, instead of having participants work collaboratively, we asked them to work individually and take photos to add to their map drawings. We asked them to take a variety of shots and suggested that their photos could include such things as scars that had interesting stories or special objects they had brought with them from their country of origin.

01 02 03 04 05 06

Keeping Home Close to Me photo-essay by workshop participants

As each man returned, we noticed that the photos were a series of vague, out-of-focus shots of scars and other items that were impossible to identify. Because of our rushed explanations, participants had not been clear on what they needed to do. We had introduced the solo portrait/object exercise because we hoped that connecting the map to an individual portrait would strengthen the potential for an outside audience to connect to that drawing. Yet what we realized was that the collaborative process had offered an invaluable opportunity for the participants to work together. Through collaboration, participants became more forthcoming and the participants inspired each other to take creative risks. We had inadvertently cut out this key component.

SAFETY AND CONSENT Within this workshop, ensuring participants’ safety and consent was of utmost concern. For example, we encouraged participants who did not want to appear in photographs to become their group’s photographer. If we were working with individuals such as unaccompanied minors, we had them work together with a more experienced facilitator so that their stories could be handled more carefully. Explaining our objectives and securing consent across languages was an ongoing challenge, but we did slowly improve our methods over time. For example, to help participants grasp where the maps and photo essays might be shared, we added very specific categories on the written consent form: “I agree to allow my map/photo story to be: 1) shown on the walls of the shelter to let future newcomers know they are not alone; 2) shared with educators,

policymakers, and academics working to improve the circumstances of individuals impacted by a refugee experience; or/and 3) included on the Mapping Memories website to create greater understanding for individuals who could benefit from either the method or the results of the work.” For each category, we attached a why statement or goal, i.e. “to let future participants know they are not alone.” At the beginning of the workshop we shared a PowerPoint presentation to complement the written consent form and to lay out our categories in a visual manner. At the end of the workshop, we revisited the written consent forms again to confirm where participants wanted to share their work. The process went more smoothly once we had mounted several photo essays on the walls of the residence so that participants could immediately understand how the resulting work would be displayed. Most participants were also interested in sharing their work with educators and advocates. For many of the participants, the most complex decision was whether to have their images included on the website. Even presenting that option compromised some participants’ willingness to take part in the workshop. The Internet is a complex venue because of its potential risks around ensuring safety, especially for individuals fleeing repression who have left family and friends behind. Because we did not have the time to fully engage with participants about these risks during our one-day workshop, we had to eliminate the Internet as a possible venue for sharing their work. It was too much of an unknown and too overwhelming for them to make such a decision so quickly.

SHARING THE WORK WITH THE PUBLIC

IT’S ALL CONNECTED Sylvain used to manage three residences with 46 beds. Two have been shut down. Why are cutbacks in staff and services taking place at Montreal residences like the YMCA and Project Refuge? Advocates explain this as the result of new measures at the federal level intended to curb the influx of refugees. One measure, called the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement, states that Canada can turn away many of the individuals seeking asylum who come through the United States. There are also new visa requirements for some individuals seeking entry into Canada. These policy shifts are part of larger global trends referred to as a “Shrinking Protection Space.” What is shrinking is funding for humanitarian work and the willingness and ability to address the protection of refugees. Fewer resources make it harder to meet our international obligations to protect refugees.

LEARN MORE: »» Refugee and Immigrants Glossary: www.ccrweb.ca/en/glossary »» Canada’s Commitments to Refugees: www.ccrweb.ca/en/bulletin/09/07/14 »» United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: www.unicef.org/crc »» UN Convention on the Status of Refugees: www.unhcr.org »» “Who is a Refugee?” presentation: www.ccrweb.ca/en/public_education MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

Our next challenge was to determine how we might share the results with a larger audience, while respecting the terms of consent we had agreed upon with the participants. Mid-way through our workshops, we created a photo book of the maps, photo essays, and images of the production process. With the book, the project became real. Sylvain was thrilled to have a product he could show to partners and funders. Returning participants were excited to see their work in print. We also had the opportunity to share the book with several hundred teachers at a series of English Language Arts workshops around Quebec. Teachers found the book useful as a model of a project they could use with their students. At the same time, they had a series of questions about the people in the photos, and they wanted to know more about the backstories. Where were they from? Why had they come to Montreal? As we recounted stories that had emerged in the workshops, the teachers were so moved that many asked for copies of the book and wanted more information about refugees in Canada. This experience helped us to identify the primary shortcoming of that initial publication, which was a lack of context. We knew that the personal maps and photo essays were powerful, but this feedback confirmed that the maps and photos could not stand on their own; future audiences would also want more context. On another occasion, we used the book as an opening exercise at an international conference, “Remembering

images from â&#x20AC;&#x153;Remembering War, Genocide, and Other Human Rights Violationsâ&#x20AC;? conference

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War, Genocide and Other Human Rights Violations: Oral History, New Media and the Arts” at Concordia University, where we invited small groups to discuss the themes being communicated through different photo essays. There, we used the ‘lack of context’ to our advantage, as a technique to get the groups thinking about the intentions behind each story. Following the exercise, we invited our collaborators, Colleen French from the Canadian Council for Refugees and Sylvain Thibault, Project Refuge Coordinator, to fill in the gaps by discussing the larger context of immigration and refugee policies in Canada.

DOCUMENTARY FILM: THE FIRST DOOR

Because we hoped to use the results of the workshops to promote dialogue, we started to ask ourselves, what additional information would help the work stand on its own and make it useful in the areas of education, policy, and service? We realized that the story of the shelter itself was an important part of the context.

The finished film, The First Door, profiles three individuals who benefited from Maison Haidar. It also illustrates the specific strategies Sylvain uses to “help newcomers help themselves.” We have shared the documentary with a network of shelter coordinators from around Canada and with general audiences in Montreal who found the film useful for different reasons.

When we began the workshops, Sylvain was managing three residences with 46 occupied beds and our workshops were packed. One year later, as a result of the government’s change in immigration policy, Sylvain was forced to close two of the three shelters, and three of the four employees were laid off. In the last year, he has been fighting to keep this last remaining residence open. Sylvain expressed his concern that without residences to serve this vulnerable group, refugees would end up in homeless shelters as they did twenty years ago, without adequate support and without a chance to establish peer networks.

Because of its precarious status, and because Project Refuge was approaching its twenty-year anniversary, Sylvain worked with us to create a short documentary, involving past residents and some of the more engaged workshop participants in the production. One of the goals in making the documentary was to address common stereotypes about refugees, as well as to offer intimate portraits of past residents to show that they had not only adapted to their new home, but were making a contribution to Quebec society.

Network coordinators used the film to brainstorm how to improve services for this population. At other screenings audience members discussed how the film opened their eyes to how difficult it is to go through the refugee process, and the tenacity it takes to integrate into the fabric of Montreal.

Find The First Door film on the Mapping Memories DVD.

THE FIRST DOOR (dir. Liz Miller and Quentin Rameau, 23 minutes, 2010) This documentary explores the crucial role played by the Maison Haidar residence in helping refugees adapt to Montreal. Through the perspective of Sylvain Thibault, the passionate Project Refuge Coordinator, and three former residents, this film provides an insiderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perspective on the challenges refugees face when resettling. By following Sylvain as he supports residents dealing with trauma, language differences, racism, and homophobia, the viewer witnesses how Project Refuge offers much more than a safe place to sleep.

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ALFREDO LOMBISI, CABINDA

“

Excerpt from The First Door My father is a “Zonzi” which means “talker.” I am like him. I am someone who tries to build peace around me but there are places where peace is not always welcome... Radio Refuge is where I found my place when I arrived in Quebec. I have been here for four years. Radio Refuge is like my home. It allows me to express myself, to share my opinions, and this is really important for me.

Alfredo is a former resident of Project Refuge and is featured in The First Door documentary. He took part in several of the Tell Me a Story workshops. He is one of the co-founders of Ici Radio Refuge, a weekly one-hour collaborative community radio program. The program is hosted by a different refugee advocacy group each month.

ALBERTO IGLESIAS, MEXICO

“

I remember my first day in Montreal. It was cold. I didn’t know what was going on. They said you will go to a place where you will feel at home. I arrived at Project Refuge. I was nervous and I asked myself “where am I, what am I doing here?” When you arrive you have so many fears. Alfredo opened the door to welcome me. After only three days things got easier. I remember sitting in the kitchen and I was cutting pizza to prepare lunch. Sylvain asked me to prepare a slice for the newcomer. It was terrific. I could now help someone else feel at home. This place extended a hand when I needed it most.

Alberto, a former resident of Project Refuge, took part in the Tell Me a Story workshops, and is featured in The First Door documentary. Alberto is very active in his community. When he is not working as a pastry chef, he volunteers with senior citizens and has stayed involved with Project Refuge.

REFLECTIONS What became increasingly clear working at Maison Haidar was that telling a personal story could be an empowering experience, but it could also be an experience that reinforced isolation, depending on the context in which that story was told. One individual explained, “people often ask you where you are from, but they are less interested in the story behind the answer. And because we are asked this so often, you come to understand the questions as ‘what are you doing here? Do you belong?’” To ensure respect for an individual sharing a difficult story, Sylvain’s advice to all volunteers working at the residence was, “before asking a question, ask yourself ‘is this about personal curiosity or for the person’s well being?’” It was important to follow Sylvain’s advice in our workshops. Over

“ MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

things (abstract or physical) they brought with them, participants were instead able to acknowledge each other’s areas of strength and tenacity in the face of difficult times. The privilege of redoing the workshop several times allowed us to reflect, refine activities, and bring a greater sensitivity to workshop facilitation. However, the results of the one-day workshop were evocative snapshots rather than in-depth, reflective stories. One of our principles in participatory projects was to ensure that participants are included at every step of the process, including distribution. The transitory nature of the residence and the brevity of the workshops simply did not make this possible. While we were thrilled to have had the chance to share the book with hundreds of

One of the characteristics of media representation is that it captures and freezes a particular moment in people’s lives, while their stories continue to change and develop. Liz Miller and Michele Luchs

time, we learned how to structure activities and frame the discussion questions in ways that reinforced a sense of belonging amongst the group, instead of allowing our inherent curiosity or inadvertent insensitivity to re-open fresh wounds.

teachers, the project would have been much more meaningful for the audience had we been able to include the storytellers in the presentations. In addition, the participants would have had the chance to see how their stories impacted an audience.

For example, a seemingly innocent activity – asking participants to share three things they left behind – raised emotions that were difficult to address in the context of a short workshop. By shifting the request to share three

We discovered that participants’ needs to make their stories public changed over time. When they first arrived, the newcomers in our workshops were eager to unpack what they had experienced in their home countries or

in the process of arriving in Canada. But as one former resident explained, this need changed over time: “Sometimes people want to know why you had to leave, what happened to you, and you don’t want to share. At first I didn’t mind, but now I want to share less. My story has become very intimate to me…”. One of the characteristics of media representation is that it captures and freezes a particular moment in people’s lives, while their stories continue to change and develop. The maps and photo essays created in the workshop were only ‘snapshots’ of individuals in transition. Though we had worked to restore the balance of who was telling the story, we were not able to facilitate more reflective and timebased personal expressions. Greater reflection would have been beneficial for the participants to communicate how they continued to adapt to their new surroundings, and would have

helped audiences understand this transition as a gradual process. Nonetheless, we were able to put many things in place for this workshop: a safe space for participant expression; strong facilitation that improved over time; technology that didn’t get in the way; activities that were adapted to the participants’ needs; and, importantly, a conviction that the workshops were fulfilling a need expressed by our partner, Sylvain. The documentary permitted a means to compensate for some of the shortcomings of the one-day workshops, and to balance our goals of combining a meaningful process with a product that could help a general audience better understand the challenges that refugees experience in their integration to Canada. But if we were to do it again, we would certainly want to find a way to bring more continuity into the equation.

AYANDA DUBE, Zimbabwe Ayanda Dube left his home in Zimbabwe and arrived in Montreal as an unaccompanied minor at 18 years old. He spent his first three weeks in Montreal at a residence for refugees run by the YMCA. Ayanda describes himself as a young/old Zimbabwean man. He enjoys learning about the world and contemplating how he can make a difference. He has been active with Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) for several years. Ayanda also sings in a gospel choir and is studying political science and economics at Concordia. In YUL-MTL, written for the Going Places project (see Chapter 2), Ayanda contemplates the meaning of home.

YUL-MTL The beauty of living in the city of Montreal is the idea that almost noone living in Montreal is from Montreal. And because of this, we are submerged in a culture in which we are ever asking the fundamental questions – Where are you from? How long have you been here? Why are you here? These questions are the foundation of every Montreal story. YUL-MTL is my story about my journey as a refugee coming to Canada by way of Montreal. Chapter 1 – YUL YUL is the International Air Traffic Association symbol for The Pierre Trudeau Airport – commonly known as the Montreal Airport.

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I see YUL as a vault. Not of money, jewellery, and other valuable items, but of precious and priceless moments – beautiful, happy, and sometimes, sad. When family, friends, and lovers see each other after some time apart, it is obvious that the hugs, the kisses, the embracing, the laughing, the joy, the excitement are one hundred percent pure, raw, and unscripted. For me, YUL is a reminder of a moment that is more somber than joyous. It is the beginning of a long and treacherous journey full of all the obstacles life throws at you. Many such stories have been told before. However, I will focus on my journey beginning with my arrival at the YUL with nothing but one piece of luggage, a ton of hope, a smile, and the belief that one day, from the seed of a few worldly possessions, I will reap success, love, and a sense of belonging.

But, before reaching this light at the end of the tunnel, I would first have to endure humiliating treatment at the hands of the airport immigration officers who practiced police-like authority â&#x20AC;&#x201C; taking mug shots and detaining me in an empty room fit for a criminal. A water fountain and a bathroom were the only two things I was entitled to. After thirteen hours of waiting, I would eventually be released at 2:00 am and left to find my way into the new world. Welcome to Canada.

Chapter 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The YMCA The YMCAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission statement describes it as a charitable organization dedicated to the development of people in spirit, mind, and body, and to the empowerment of individuals, families, and communities. More than just the theme of a popular song by the Village People, the YMCA represents what is arguably the first home for a number of people coming into Canada as refugees. The YMCA residence welcomes approximately 2,000 refugee claimants every year. It provides a safe environment for families in the process of their new beginning in a strange land and a gateway for them to integrate into Canadian life. Through the YMCA residence, I discovered Montreal multiculturalism at its best, with people of many different nationalities bound by the same hopes and dreams. The YMCA also gave me my first experience of the warm, welcoming nature of Canadians. It

taught me that living in harmony with others is not at all a difficult task. We all were able to share our struggles, laugh at the same jokes, and help each other out. It is a community consisting of individual asylum seekers, families, workers, and volunteers. Chapter 3 – Home After a number of years of being in Canada, I reflect – what is home? Is Canada my home or is this a temporary refuge? Have I made friends and connections that will last a lifetime? Do I have people I can call family? Did I endure those many cold winters in vain? How did I feel watching Canada take those many gold medals in the Olympics? Did I feel Canadian? What is it to be Canadian? If I have professional skills and I am forced to drive a taxi, am I Canadian or just a person living in Canada? Do I have two homes? Reasonable accommodation – am I part of the debate? Will I ever be Quebecois or am I just a Quebecker? Do I love Canada? Do I love its people? What do I love? What do I hate? Poutine, maple syrup, bacon, canoeing, camping, skiing, the cottage, lakes, coast to coast, snow, ice, English, French, the maple leaf, O Canada, Canada, eh, bear, moose, beaver, Montreal, Quebec. What is home?

To read the behind-the-scenes of Ayanda’s story, go to Chapter 3.

MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06 YUL-MTL photos by Ayanda Dube.

2 YEARS 2 MANY

CREATING A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT A public service announcement (PSA) is a short radio or video spot (15, 30, or 60 seconds) that delivers a simple social message and a call to act. Making a PSA is an excellent exercise to develop media skills, to learn how persuasive texts work, and to develop texts for a real audience. PSAs can be easily used in an elementary, high school, or a university setting. In this project, Mapping Memories worked with a human rights lawyer and a class of 24 Concordia Communication students over a period of four weeks to develop two PSAs on the delays refugee claimants face while waiting for the Canadian Government to process their claims.

Our steps: Research – understand the issue Our first step was to invite refugee lawyer, Mitchell J. Goldberg, to visit our class and explain the issue. Following this brief, we compiled a list of follow up questions and designated a group to conduct additional research. Questions to consider while conducting research: What stands out? Does the information confirm or conflict with your pre-existing knowledge? Determine your approach – study the form We began by watching sample PSAs to explore how they were made. After watching each PSA we discussed the message, the target audience, the opening and closing shots, and the visual and audio techniques utilized. Additional examples of PSA projects can be found at Listenup.org. Determine your audience – identify your target audience With this project, we were building a viral campaign, which uses social networks to spread the message, because the group wanted to reach young adults on the Internet who were unaware of the issue and would be moved to contact their legislators. With this in mind, we cast actors, parents, and friends whom we felt the audience would identify with. We also cast two popular young actors from the TV series Degrassi to help draw attention to the PSA.

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Clarify the message – determine a title Finding a title helps to clarify the message of the PSA. Our title was, 2 Years 2 Many. Another way to clarify the message is to frame the video around a central question/s. Our thematic question was, What if you had to wait up to two years for your refugee status to be determined? From there we developed a series of questions that would be relevant to the audience, such as “What if you had to wait two years to get your medical results?” A script needs to be concise and to the point. Find PSA scripts on our website.

Plan the production â&#x20AC;&#x201C; make a production schedule We had one month to complete the project and our class met once a week for three hours. With these constraints in mind, we designated a week each for research, script, production, and editing. Because we had three hours to shoot, we kept the production simple. We had a studio team and a field team. The first PSA was shot in our studio and each of our six actors stood against a black background and delivered a simple message. We rehearsed and set everything up the day before. For the second PSA, our field production team went to a local market, Jean Talon. Work with partners â&#x20AC;&#x201C; get the word out Once we had finished the video, we shared it with refugee lawyer Mitchell Goldberg to ensure the PSA was accurate. We set up a web page, using a blog template on Wordpress, uploaded the video to YouTube, and the students wrote a press release to provide additional context. Mitchell Goldberg used his networks to get the word out and we also sent the link through our own networks, as well as through the press realease. You can watch 2 Years 2 Many or access the script at www.mappingmemories.ca. For additional resources on making a PSA visit: www.learnquebec.ca.

WRITE A PRESS RELEASE WHAT TO COVER What – describe what you are announcing: a PSA, a bus tour, etc. Who – include your organization and contact information Where – include the address When – make sure the day and date correspond and include time of day

KEEP IN MIND »» Have a strong headline or intro that is up to four lines long »» Include a two to three line description of the group »» Keep it short and check facts to ensure accuracy »» Have a few people review the press release to avoid typos, correct name spellings, and verify dates and times »» Avoid jargon, mission statements, or long sentences »» If your event features strong visuals, let reporters know about photo ops »» End with “###” to let readers know the release is over

DON’T FORGET »» Logos at the top of the page »» “For Immediate Release” in the header »» The date the release is being distributed »» Contact information

WHEN TO SEND IT »» Mail it ten days in advance »» Fax it five days in advance MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

»» Make a follow-up phone call three days in advance »» Email it the day before »» Emailing and calling are paramount

RESOURCES Spin project: www.spinproject.org

SAMPLE PRESS RELEASE FOR WEB-BASED (VIRAL) PSA CAMPAIGN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Concordia Students and Actors Fight for Refugee Rights What if you had to wait up to two years for your refugee status to be determined? For refugees coming to Canada, this is an unfortunate reality. Montreal, March 10th, 2009 – Refugees coming to Canada experience lengthy delays in waiting for the Canadian Government to process their claims. The new publication, Immigration and Refugee Board’s Report on Plans and Priorities, 2009-2010, warns that wait times will continue to increase dramatically over the coming years. This is why actors from Degrassi: The Next Generation, human rights advocates, and Communication students from Concordia University have come together to create a viral video campaign to pressure Canada’s Immigration Ministry to ensure that the Immigration and Refuge Board of Canada has all the resources it needs to make timely decisions. Joining the Canadian Council for Refugees’ call for sufficient appointments, 2 Years 2 Many is a video produced to raise awareness to the general public about the challenges that Canadian refugees face. Featuring Degrassi’s Sarah Barrable-Tishauer and Jake Goldsbie, the campaign has all the ingredients to make waves nation-wide. “It is wonderful to witness a group of 24 communication studies students taking a stand and making a contribution – it’s the Concordia way,” says Liz Miller, communications professor and executive producer of the project. Not only have the students heard passionate testimonies but they have also realized the impact they could have on the government’s decisions. Since 2006, the Harper government has allowed refugee judge positions to remain vacant. While the recent wave of appointments is promising, the newly published Auditor General’s report makes clear the problems run deeper. A backlog of claims, combined with a politicized reappointment process affects tax payers and most importantly, affects the lives of refugees. Refugees wait lengthy periods for a hearing, resulting in uncertainty. With their lives in limbo, refugees need to know if they will be protected in Canada and if they can be reunited with family. Visit the website www.coms.concordia.ca/video2 and help us make a difference. For more information, contact yourname@domainname.com ###

ONE-DAY STORYTELLING WORKSHOP

We were always together there, my mother, my sister and I... if my kitchen could speak it would have many stories to tell.

MAPPING

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Tool box: Pens, 11”x17” paper, digital still cameras (1 to 4 ratio), laptop, projector, screen, USB keys, card reader. Level of difficulty: Beginner Time: One-day workshop (4 hours)

»» Ask participants to draw a map of a place they would call home. Provide colored markers and white paper. »» On the back of the map have the participants write their name, their country, and include: sounds, smells, and details that could make the place come alive for someone who had never been there. If individuals are uncomfortable drawing they can write a story or even share a story with a facilitator. »» Break into small groups to discuss the drawings and the significance of what they have drawn. Ensure that there is a facilitator for each small group to identify commonalities in the stories. Ask participants to describe what they have drawn. »» A variation of this exercise is to have participants map their journey to Canada.

PHOTO STORY IN FOUR FRAMES »» Present a slideshow on photo composition using the Mapping Memories PowerPoint on Composition. Discuss basic terms such as close up, medium shot, long shot, and the basics of frame composition using the reference sheet, Taking and Selecting Photos. »» Share photo story models. Ask the group what each photo story is about. What does each of the photos contribute to the story?

PowerPoint on Composition

»» In small groups have participants storyboard their stories by drawing a rough sketch of each of the four photos. Ask them to use a variety of different kinds of shots to tell their story. »» Introduce basic camera techniques. To keep it simple, set the camera on automatic. »» Have participants take photos in their small groups, using their storyboards as guides. Encourage them to experiment so that they have options to work with. Make sure to give them a time limit (20 minutes or so) to take their photos. »» Download the photos onto a computer and have the groups select the best four images that tell their story. »» Present all of the stories to the group, using the computer and a projector to view the images. Have participants explain their photo stories to the group.

CONSENT If you are planning to share the work with an audience outside of the workshop, discuss and seek participants’ informed consent. Hand out consent forms at the beginning of the workshop and review them as a group. Revisit consent forms at the workshop’s conclusion to ensure participants understand where the work could be shown. Be sure to leave enough time and offer participants the opportunity to discuss consent individually. We have provided our own consent form online as a resource.

TAKE IT FURTHER »» Record a story on a digital sound player to accompany a memory map. »» Write a short text or caption to accompany the photo essays. »» Have participants identify five places in their new neighborhood that make them feel “at home.” Work with individuals to map these on Google Earth.

Sample Consent Form

TAKING AND SELECTING PHOTOS POINTS TO CONSIDER: Content and Message: What do you hope the photograph or photo essay communicates? What is the subject? Mood: What emotional impact does the image have on you? How is the mood created? Composition: How are the objects/subjects placed in the frame? How do they relate to one another? Focal Point: Is it clear what the viewer should be looking at in the photo? What is the first thing that draws your eye? What is the focus? Shot Variation: When telling a story with photos, you need a variety of shots. Are all of the shots taken at the same distance? From the same angle? Point of View: Who do you think is taking the picture? Why are they taking the picture? From which perspective is the image shot? Is the image taken at eye level? From above (bird’s eye view), or from below (bug’s eye view)? Framing: How is the image cropped? What is cut out of the photo and what is left in? When taking a photo, especially a medium or close-up shot, you don’t want to crowd your subject. Make sure there is room around his or her head (‘headroom’). Avoid distracting backgrounds, such as a plant that appears to come out of the subject’s head. Negative Space: What is the purpose of the ‘empty space’ in the image? How does it interact with the Positive Space, a place that is full of activity? Background and Foreground: What is in the background? What is in the foreground? What is the relationship between these two planes?

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Focus: Is there a long depth of field where everything in the frame is sharp and in focus, or a short depth of field, where only fore-grounded objects are in focus?

For further information, consult our Mapping Memories PowerPoint on Composition for use in workshops, www.mappingmemories.ca

INTRODUCTORY PHOTO EXERCISES

»» Professional photography: select a photo in a magazine and have participants try to replicate the photograph. »» Photo scavenger hunt: develop a list of five to ten items, and have small groups of students capture these items in photographs. »» Mood and location: create two baskets – one with pieces of paper that name different kinds of moods, and another with pieces of paper that each name a nearby place. Each group will select one piece of paper from each basket, giving them a mood (somber, melancholy, ecstatic) and a location (playground, school, park). Have them take photographs of the place to fit the mood. »» Portraits: take an action shot, take a posed shot, take a self-portrait, break into pairs and take portraits of each other.

ALTERNATIVES TO TAKING PHOTOS If you do not have cameras available, you can adapt an exercise to work with found photos. These images can be gathered from newspapers, magazines, pamphlets and flyers, or printed from the web. You can also have participants take photos using cell phone cameras. For a great collage project using found photos, see www.sabrinawardharrison.com.

SELECTING PHOTOS Message exercise: On the back of each photo or on an index card, write the message or mood you want the photo to communicate (e.g. a young girl is lonely, a boy is happy to be making friends, a mother is worried about her son’s future). In groups of two, ask your partner what mood he or she thinks that the photo communicates. Compare your partner’s answer to what you wrote on the back of the photo. Discuss the difference between your intention and your partner’s interpretation. Shot exercise: Organize your photos into three groups: close-ups, medium shots, and long shots. What kind of photos do you tend to take? Long shots? Close-ups? Frame exercise: In groups of two, present your partner with a photograph. Ask what his or her eye is drawn to in the image. What is the first thing your partner notices? You each want to ensure that the main subject or focal point is clear. Often, participants take images at a distance, making it difficult to grasp the focus or subject of the shot. Editing exercise: Which of your photos best communicates the message you want to convey? Which of the photos do you like best? Which are most significant? Once you have reviewed your photographs, select the top five and place them in an order that makes both narrative and visual sense. Try shifting the first and the last photo. Does this change the message, mood, or story you want to communicate?

Photo Scavenger Hunt Exercise

RELATED ACTIVITIES »» Is there a community radio program or station in your neighborhood where contributors feel “at home” in the same way that Alfredo is comfortable at Radio Centre Ville, where Ici Radio Refuge airs? Find out more: When does it air? Who are the spokespersons? What kinds of subjects do they cover? Can people call in? Do a listening exercise of Ici Radio Refuge (Radio Centre Ville, 102.3 FM) or another show or station and report back to the group. »» Have you ever made a journey alone like Ayanda did when he came to Montreal? Write about a time you traveled on your own. Describe the trip and something you learned about yourself. Alternatively, write about a time you had to leave your home and it was not your decision. »» “When do you feel at home?” Ayanda waited many years to become a permanent resident in Canada. Canadians generally accept that once someone has lived for a long time in Canada, they should be given the right to stay. How long do you think is ‘long enough’? One year? Two years? Five or ten years? What factors help to define if a person is ‘settled’ in Canada, apart from the number of years they have been here? For example, is it having a job? Owning a house? Having children born in Canada? Obtaining a Canadian degree? Being involved with community organizations? What might be some other factors? For more on this issue, check out the Lives on Hold video and study guide, www.ccrweb.ca.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER »» Does the group you are working with have previous experience with the tools you are introducing? Will they be able to access them after the workshop? »» How can you ensure that technology does not get in the way? »» Is there a target audience for the work produced in the workshop? Each other? Students and teachers? A government official?

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Everyone has a story. Places do too. Stories matter for what they tell us. They also matter for how they connect us to each other. Sometimes, in the telling, the distance between us collapses and we become one. This is the political possibility in sharing life stories. Steve High, Co-Director of the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling

GOING PLACES:

CONNECTING PERSONAL STORIES TO PUBLIC SPACES

CONNECTING MEMORIES TO PLACE What is a personal memory? How do places trigger memories and stories? Do we inherit memories from our parents? How can we keep our family histories alive through storytelling? How can knowledge of the past inform our understanding of ourselves and our family histories? We all have memories and many are connected to places that mean something important to us as individuals, as families, or as community members.

GOING PLACES:

CREATING A MEMORYSCAPE OF MONTREAL Liz Miller

OVERVIEW Over a two-month period, Mapping Memories, the Refugee Youth Group of the Life Stories Project, and the YWCA of Montreal organized Going Places, a participatory media project involving seven youth with refugee experiences. The project began with a twelve-week workshop in memoryscapes, a method of connecting personal stories to public places. In this workshop participants wrote stories and developed them into story soundscapes, which were shared on a city bus tour. As tour guides, the youth connected the past to the present, personal stories to public spaces, and offered insights into refugee youth experiences.

The YWCA of Montreal is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls by reinforcing their self-esteem and autonomy. Through workshops offered in schools and afterschool programs, the YWCA aims to encourage the development of leadership skills, prevent the manifestation of potentially violent situations, and reduce the social inequalities that women and girls face.

PLANNING A PROJECT AROUND A BIG EVENT One way to launch a participatory media project is with a specific event in mind. This is how our Going Places course and bus tour took shape. Nine thousand academics from around Canada would be visiting Concordia University to participate in the 2010 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, and the university was interested in showcasing research initiatives.

Often immigrant, migrant, and refugee children bear witness to the suffering of their parents, as well as their own suffering. It is difficult to isolate hardship to any individual psyche; it spills, so to speak, onto the fabric of the diaspora. A child, being at once removed and part of what his or her family has endured, may be in a unique position to make new sense out of what has happened. The passage from silence to voice may be achieved through intergenerational storytelling (Campano 2007, 56).

Under the auspices of Mapping Memories and Montreal Life Stories, we proposed a memoryscape in the form of a city bus tour that would feature the recorded stories of youth with refugee experiences.

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Rania’s Story, Dear Gabriel

By connecting their personal stories to significant places throughout Montreal, the tour would offer a unique perspective on the city, sensitizing visitors to the diverse concerns of youth with refugee experience. For our group of facilitators and participants, having a concrete goal and a ‘finish line’ was an exciting parameter. At the same time, planning such a high profile event meant we would have to ensure that the end goal did not overshadow either

the process or the individual goals of the workshop participants leading the tour.

PARTNERS AND GOALS Going Places began as a collaboration with the YWCA of Montreal, the Life Stories Project, and Mapping Memories. Haitian, Cambodian, and Rwandan collaborators of the Life Stories Project had emphasized that one important reason for their ongoing involvement in the project was to ensure that their children and future generations would know about the genocides they had survived. In order to build on this objective, we opened enrollment for the workshop to any young person aged 20 to 30 years who had been impacted by a refugee experience. This might include a sister, a brother, a daughter, or another family member of a refugee. By broadening the enrollment to several participants with refugee experience as well as those impacted by a refugee experience, we hoped the course would facilitate intergenerational exchanges in the creation of the memoryscapes. We also wanted to explore ways of using media to foster leadership skills and to provide a space for young women with refugee experiences to express themselves. Rania Arabi, of the YWCA of Montreal, helped to coordinate the course, and she developed her story about her family’s refugee experience alongside the other participants. Describing her role she explained, “Our intention was to establish a context of trust and safety, which are integral for the participants who come from vulnerable backgrounds.

This intention fed all the sessions and the bus tour (even when things appeared not to go smoothly). I believe that my presence, though I was learning at the same time, gave credibility, as I have lived that experience myself, and it helped in creating a safe place. Co-facilitating a group is a delicate matter, and the details of how it is done and who assumes what responsibilities need to be clear from the start.”

MEMORYSCAPES To develop this project, we began by organizing a twelve-week course in creating memoryscapes, the mapping of stories and soundscapes to places in the city. A memoryscape can be a walk, a bus tour, or even an immersive website, where physical locations trigger a story or memory. It can involve passages of time and changes in perception, asking the audience to walk in the footsteps of someone else. The term ‘memoryscapes’ was coined by scholar Toby Butler, who has organized audio walks in London around various oral histories of the city. Butler is one of many historians, geographers, artists, and educators exploring how the technologies of mobility (mobile phones, music players, etc.) might help to illuminate connections among history, memory, and place.

how this immersive experience would then translate to a virtual tour, we then mapped the stories to an online route using Google Maps.

GUIDING QUESTIONS Our group consisted of six young women and one young man, who were from Zimbabwe, Palestine, Congo, and Rwanda. Participants needed no previous media experience and we met once a week for four hours at the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling at Concordia University. We invited Concordia Communication students to help with hands-on media training in photography, sound recording, and editing. With our partners and participants in place and an end goal in mind, we were ready to explore the ethical and creative challenges this project might present: How would a consideration of place impact the telling of the stories? How could we ensure personal memoryscapes would have relevance for a larger public? How could these media projects foster confidence and leadership capacity for young women with refugee experience? And most importantly, how would we balance the public and private nature of the stories and ensure that a tour did not place participants in a vulnerable position?

BUILDING TRUST AND Similarly, our objective for the Going ENSURING A SAFE SPACE Places tour was to immerse bus passengers in the lived realities of the youth involved, while moving through the city. As we passed the locations evoked in the stories, the bus would stop for the youth tour guides to introduce and then play their recorded stories. To explore

Our first challenge was to establish trust and get to know each other. One way we did this was to begin the workshops with a shared meal. Each week, a different participant prepared a dish that reminded him or her of home. By preparing the

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meals, participants had a concrete way of contributing to the course. Our shared ritual was also an important step in establishing intimacy and ensuring a safe space for the group.

trajectory first to Palestine and then to Montreal. Leontine Uwababyeyi, another participant, prepared plantains, an essential part of meals in her home country of Rwanda.

In addition to preparing the food, we asked participants to come with a story connected to the dish, and we recorded these stories on a digital audio recorder. The cook of the day might describe the person who shared the recipe with them, a special moment when they had enjoyed the dish with others, the origins of the dish, or the challenges of making the dish here in Montreal.

Recording the food stories was a practical decision, which was intended to develop technical skills and to foster confidence in working with recorders and other equipment. It was also a way to create an initial set of stories for the tour. Since participants were simultaneously developing personal stories, we wanted them to have a back-up story in case they felt too vulnerable sharing their more intimate stories with a larger public.

The dishes and stories ranged in flavors and complexity. Participant Rasha Samour, for example, brought Maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;aloubeh, an elaborate Palestinian dish that her mother had helped her to prepare. She explained the history of the family dish and its

Of course, the flip side of this safety net was that producing digital versions of our food stories involved more work for all of us. And, while we wanted to ensure that technology did not get in the way of a

meaningful exchange, it would also have made sense to simply share a meal together. The challenge of balancing a meaningful process with the practical need to produce public stories is often present in participatory media projects. The difficult nature of the stories, coupled with the big public event we were planning, made this challenge especially daunting, and we proceeded cautiously to ensure that the benefits of the experience outweighed any risks or discomfort.

BALANCING COURSE OBJECTIVES WITH PERSONAL GOALS As facilitators working with difficult stories, it was especially important for us to understand each participant’s motivations for being involved in the course. To do this, we first asked everyone to draw a map about his or her new ‘home community’ in Montreal. We had used a similar drawing exercise in our work with Project Refuge (Chapter 1). This time, we asked participants to draw places that make them feel at home, which might include a store, a community centre, a community garden, a café, or a place of worship. We shared a few examples from past workshops, and then participants drew maps with magic markers on 11”x17” paper. On the back of the map, we asked participants to write their motivation for sharing a story and joining the course. The mapping exercise helped participants to identify stories that mattered to them, and we then shared both the maps and the goals as a group. Both facilitators and participants took part in the exercise, which was the first of many

steps in clarifying our individual and collective goals. The collective goals included developing leadership skills and raising awareness around youth refugee experiences with the general public. While individual and collective goals could differ, we wanted to respect both sets of objectives and explore creative ways of bringing them together. For example, Leontine Uwababyeyi wanted to share her story of losing her family during the Rwandan genocide. Her personal goal in telling the story was to honour her family and to ensure her experience was part of a historical record. It was important to understand Leontine’s personal motivation and support her throughout the creative process.

SHARING CREATIVE RISKS A method we have developed throughout our workshops is to approach the workshops as a mutual exploration. Taking creative risks with participants helped to establish trust by lessening the formality between the role of ‘facilitator’ and that of ‘participant.’ For example, everyone, including the facilitators, took part in the introductory mapping exercise and shared what emerged. By doing the exercises ourselves, we also strengthened our practice as facilitators because we experienced what was working and what was not working. Another instance of mutual exploration occurred when Rebecca, a media facilitator, inspired by food stories and intergenerational dialogues, decided to create a short video with her grandmother. In her video, Mehshi Kusa, her grandmother of Syrian descent teaches Rebecca a family recipe that has

Rebecca’s Story, Mehshi Kusa

never been written down. Rebecca described her motivation for using a recipe to explore her family history: “As the product of immigration and displacement, our family uses food as one of the main ways to celebrate our roots.” Rebecca’s project then became a useful model for the other participants to understand what a finished piece might look like.

DEVELOPING THE STORIES

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Writing was the starting point for shaping the stories. Writing teacher Penny Kittle has developed a useful list of “ten quick-writes” in her book, Write Beside Them. One example is “A Place in Time,” a quick-write exercise where she asks students to “Remember a place from your childhood that mattered to you and list what you remember about it. Go for the finest details of that place – sensory details – and see what surfaces” (Kittle 45). Quick-writes were a great way to get started, and we used them at the beginning of

each session. We also allocated time for individuals to work on their stories individually and with the support of a facilitator. We invited Stephanie Marteli, a writing instructor, to come to several sessions to offer her expertise and to review drafts of the stories. Participants were encouraged to experiment with a variety of styles and genres when telling their stories, including a letter, a poem, an obituary, a definition, a text message, an email, a recipe, a list, a journal entry, a song, a script, or a series of questions. In his book, Blending Genre, Altering Style, Tom Romano describes how multigenre text is a powerful means to explore multiple perspectives on any topic or theme. Because our group was small and we had several facilitators, we were able to be flexible and accommodate diverse approaches to the project. For example, several participants wanted experience conducting a

life-story interview and based their stories on interviews with a family member (see Chapter 3 for Life Story Interview techniques). Rasha Samour conducted an audio interview with her mother about leaving her home in Palestine. She then wrote a short voiceover to help frame the interview. Stephanie Gasana conducted an interview with her sister, and based on that interview she wrote her own story.

BEING SENSITIVE TO DIFFICULT STORIES Throughout the course we discussed the challenges of sharing personal stories. We emphasized that all creative work involves taking risks. We also explained that sharing personal stories means revisiting past events and as a result may trigger difficult emotions. Stories emerge when an individual is ready, and we reinforced our belief that whatever story each participant was ready to tell was valuable. Dealing with difficult stories was challenging for the participants, as well as for the facilitators. For example, when I first read Leontine’s account of losing her family in the genocide, I was immediately struck by the intensity of the story. I noticed her calm demeanor while sharing, but was not sure if I should address how she felt about her experience or focus on providing feedback about the story’s structure. I asked her how I could help, and she replied, “I need you to help me to correct the English,” and so that is where we began. Early on, Leontine did not know me well enough to ask for more, and as a creative facilitator, I could not assume to know what she needed.

The context of our media workshops was self-expression, not therapy, and I needed to follow her lead. As she came to know me better, we were able to discuss the context, content, and structure of her story. It was important to be observant during sessions, and to check in during the week to inquire about participants’ support networks outside of the

Providing opportunities for students to narrate some of the more difficult aspects of their lives may serve a number of important purposes. Storytelling is one way in which students can begin to understand and perhaps gain a degree of control over past experiences that may not have been fully intelligible at the time of their occurrence (Campano 2007, 52).

class. We also provided the group with a list of psychological services that had been developed by the Life Stories Project in case a participant needed professional support. There was always a possibility that a participant would drop out for emotional or for practical reasons as they were juggling jobs, studies, and other responsibilities. As facilitators, we had to take into account the cultural, social, and political backgrounds of each participant. For example, as Leontine and I came to know each other, she took time to make sure I understood the nuances of what had taken place in Rwanda. It was important to her that I not only understood her personal story, but that I understood the story’s context. That context was important for me as well as for anyone else reading her story.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR WORKING WITH INDIVIDUALS WITH DIFFICULT STORIES:

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Warn participants before a workshop that creative projects using personal stories can bring up difficult emotions.

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Offer participants resources they can turn to should they need additional support.

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Explain to participants that as a facilitator it is your responsibility to seek additional support if you feel the individual is at risk in any way.

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Be respectful of participants’ privacy and be sure to offer a range of exercises and themes for them to explore.

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Explain that they are not obliged to share a story if they are not ready.

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If any individuals are in the midst of refugee application processes, have them consult with their lawyers before sharing their stories with a wider public.

What was also important was helping participants to emphasize their resilience in the face of adversity. One way we addressed this with Leontine was to highlight places in her story where she had been a leader to others. For example, instead of finishing her story with the devastating loss of her family in Rwanda, Leontine continued her story describing her second family, made up of university students who were also orphaned by that genocide. In her new family, Leontine explained how she was the ‘mother’ of sixteen adopted ‘children,’ some of whom were even older than herself. With a slight change of emphasis, Leontine’s story did not end on a tragic note, but rather with her powerful example of leadership in her role as an adoptive ‘mother.’

PEER SUPPORT It was especially rewarding to watch the support network that developed amongst the participants

themselves. Perhaps one of the biggest motivations for staying involved in the project were the friendships that developed and the support the participants gave each other. For many of the participants, this was the most valuable aspect of the project. Sharing personal stories together offered the opportunity to reflect upon a past event in the context of a supportive group. At the same time, sharing a story in a closed environment of a workshop and sharing a story on a bus tour or on the Internet implied different degrees of exposure.

PERSONAL STORIES, PUBLIC STORIES Throughout the course, it was essential to create opportunities for participants to consider any potential privacy or security risks incurred by sharing their stories with the public. One way we addressed the

challenge of ensuring that participants felt comfortable in taking their stories public was to have ongoing discussions regarding the difference between private stories and public stories. Early on we agreed that private stories originated from a personal memory or lived experience, and these could take shape through participants recording conversations with a family member, writing down memories or past dialogues, or recalling a pivotal moment in their lives. Some details regarding private stories would remain in their journals, while other details would be shaped to share with the larger public. With private stories, we emphasized that it was important to consider if any personal details might make a participant feel vulnerable later. It was especially important to be sensitive to any details that might compromise a participantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s safety or asylum application.

Public stories, on the other hand, were focused on collective memories, public events, or places important to a larger community. One example of a public story was the Rwandan Commemorative Walk to the St. Lawrence River in Montreal’s Old Port to remember the Tutsis who were murdered during the 1994 genocide. The event was organized by Page-Rwanda, a group formed by the parents, family, and friends of the

By introducing the notion of public and private stories, we wanted to provide participants with a range of ways they might share their experiences. It was important to reiterate that all of their stories mattered and that ultimately, they were in charge of what story they would tell and how much they would share.

KEEPING STORIES CONVERSATIONAL One challenge we faced in developing the stories was how to ensure that they were also conversational and could be read aloud, given that the final product would be an audio recording. Listening to examples of audio projects and reading the stories aloud helped participants distinguish between the formality of a written story and the more conversational tone of an audio narrative. Writing scripts for the soundscapes was like writing for a radio show; if it didn’t sound right, then it wasn’t right. The bus passengers would only be able to hear the story once, so the sentences had to be concise and punchy. Anything that would be difficult for a passenger to understand easily had to be edited out. Participants were encouraged to write in the present tense, to use active verbs, and to directly address the audience. To ensure the stories were not too long, we also set a word limit of 800 words.

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ADDING SOUND AND victims of the genocide now living in PHOTOGRAPHS Montreal. Leontine and participant Stephanie Gasana, also from Rwanda, worked together on this public story. On the bus tour, they led passengers on a re-creation of the walk. It was one of the tour highlights.

After writing the stories, the next step in creating our memoryscape was to record the stories and add sounds. We invited a soundscape artist to discuss sound design with

the participants and share examples of sound projects around the same length as those that we were producing. Listening to projects sparked ideas and the visit helped move the stories forward. We provided digital sound recorders for participants who wanted to record sound effects and narrations on their own.

open-source editing system, to edit the best ‘take’ of their narration and to add selected sound effects or music. Final Cut Pro, an editing software package, was then used to integrate the photographs, add titles and subtitles, and compress the stories for the website.

For those doing their own recordings, we reminded them to speak clearly and slowly, to be energetic, and to do their voice recordings in a quiet place. A good place for a sound recording is in a closet because the clothes ‘warm’ the space and prevent echoes. We asked participants to bring their recordings to class to review together. For those participants who did not have time to do their own recordings, we recorded the stories during class time. This was helpful for participants, because instead of worrying about the technology, they could focus on their delivery.

The editing process is usually the most time-consuming part of any media workshop, and we did not have time to teach this software to the participants. Instead, we had them work closely with the student media facilitators to ensure they were happy with the final result. While they did not learn handson editing, participants did have creative control over the final product. The illustrated digital stories were then uploaded onto our website. The stories were also featured in an accompanying exhibit that was on display at Concordia University during the same week as the bus tour.

And, while the emphasis of the workshop was on creating audio stories for the bus tour, we also had participants illustrate their stories with photos, either by taking new photos or by sorting and scanning photos of family, friends, or artifacts. We led a photo workshop in composition and basic camera techniques and created space in the workshop for participants to sort through the photos they would use in their stories.

EDITING Once the participants had gathered all of their elements together, student media facilitators used Audacity, an

Online Sound Resources

PowerPoint on Composition

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PLANNING THE TOUR The final step was to link the stories to locations around the city for our bus route. Place could serve as the inspiration for a story, or in other situations, place was determined once the story had already been written. For example, participant Marie-Francoise Ilunga Sitnam found inspiration by starting with a concrete location, the Kim Phat grocery store in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood, where she had found authentic ingredients to make her favorite Congolese dish. Conversely, Leontine’s story of losing her family in Rwanda had no obvious Montreal marker. She decided on St. Joseph’s Oratory as her place, because this is where she found solace when she first arrived in Montreal.

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the tour. This allowed for the participants to see how all of the pieces fit together. For the dress rehearsal, we invited a Concordia University photographer and videographer to join us. We wanted to document the process, and we also needed promotional materials to use in media releases. We developed a press release, a radio spot, and a four-minute promotional video and made the rehearsal footage available to television stations interested in covering the tour. Working with the photographer and videographer helped our group gain confidence in presenting the Going Places project to an outside audience. It was helpful to be in front of a camera before meeting the media.

Organizing a public event is an essential part of a participatory project, regardless of the scale, because it offers a chance for individuals to experience the collective impact of their work. Liz Miller

Once we had mapped out a rough sketch of the tour, we did a trial run by car and timed how long it would take to get to each location. This helped us determine what could happen in between the stops and their respective stories. For example, we decided that after each story, the tour guide would play a song from home. The music would provide a break from the intensity of the stories. The guides also prepared introductions for their stories and anecdotes to share along the route. Two weeks before the tour, we did a dress rehearsal on the same university shuttle bus that we would use for

We made the decision to run the tour twice. We hosted a reception after each tour at our exhibition space to celebrate and to offer passengers the opportunity to meet with the guides. The accompanying exhibition provided an opportunity to project the stories in a small gallery space for Congress members who would not be on the tour. It was also our contingency plan in case the bus tour attracted more people than we could accommodate. This did prove to be the case, and we were relieved that we had also organized alternative tour guides to walk people through the exhibit.

A COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE “The stories may be personal but the emotions they convey have social import, reflecting readings of the world that are embedded in collective history, and group experience.” (Gerald 2007, 60) To help participants face the challenge of taking stories public, it was helpful to discuss as a group how the stories might be used, and to refer back to each of their original motivations. The dress rehearsal was the first time we had a chance to understand the power of the stories as a collection, and it forged a new intimacy with the group. Our emphasis shifted from individual process to collective experience, and we explored our mutual goals for the tour.

Rania explained, “What was shared was the desire to create a deeper understanding of the refugee experience – of exile, of home, of finding home. We wanted to build compassion around a human experience that is many times marginalized, forgotten, judged, or avoided.” Our collaborative goal was to use these personal stories to get past limiting stereotypes about refugee experiences. Furthermore, instead of focusing on the tragedy of any one individual, we wanted to emphasize that while the lived experience of a refugee is unique, the refugee experience is broader and impacts families, classrooms, communities, and society. We kept these goals in mind when dealing with the media.

I want passengers to look past the individual stories and see how the experience of being a refugee affects the fabric of Montreal, our society, and our communities. Marie-Francoise Ilunga Sitnam

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THE PRESS Our tour captured the attention of the press and was featured in several newspapers, radio programs, and on television. The attention we received was, in part, due to the immersive and engaging approach of a bus tour. It was also a result of our connection to a big event (Congress) and the support offered by Concordia University, which dedicated media relations staff to the project. Because the stories were produced in a supportive group context, we wanted to bring some of that approach into our dealings with the press. To prepare ourselves for the challenge, we started local and then

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We made sure to rotate speakers and often worked in groups of two to three to present ourselves as a collective, which also served to avoid placing too much spotlight on any individual. When questions became too personal and participants did not want to answer directly, we encouraged our press representatives to prepare non-specific answers such as, “the refugee experience impacts all of us in different ways.” For those participants who were hesitant, we reiterated that saying no to the press was also a form of empowerment. For example, one reporter was quite keen to interview a participant who had decided that she did not want to be interviewed on the radio. The reporter was persistent, but we held firm, and insisted that the journalist respect the participant’s decision. For all of our best intentions to prepare for press interviews in advance, the real learning happened on the spot and the process grew easier over time. We made sure to check in with participants before and after any press interviews, which

Working with the mainstream media helps raise the profile of a project and can help build awareness and offer training opportunities, but it can just as easily reinforce stereotypes or alienate those involved. Liz Miller

moved outwards, speaking first to the Concordia media representatives, then to local radio stations, then to television and larger press outlets. Members of the group who wanted public speaking experience represented the rest of the group.

helped ensure that, overall, our experience with the press was positive. This element of the workshop offered participants further insights into how to balance privacy with media exposure.

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The press exposure was overwhelming. I am shy and being the centre of attention was definitely a challenge. Looking back, what is important is being really prepared, even practicing responses, because the questions were very similar. Stephanie Gasana

TIPS ON DEALING WITH THE PRESS »» Identify reasons and goals for getting press attention, and make sure to keep the participants’ best interests in mind. »» Before agreeing to a press interview, research who you will be talking to. How have they covered the issue in the past? »» Inquire about the length of the segment and prepare accordingly. Are they looking for a sound bite or something more in-depth? »» Explore worst-case scenarios regarding press exposure in order to prepare participants and to assess if the press is beneficial to the individual.

»» Rehearse questions the press might ask. »» Ensure that participants are accompanied by team members and a facilitator, whenever dealing with the press. »» Respect an individual’s decision to decline to be in the media spotlight. »» Don’t let the press attention distract you from your goals. »» Write a strong press release and identify images, video, or audio that will attract attention across different media platforms.

THE TOUR One of the most satisfying aspects of the actual tours was the interplay of the pre-recorded audio stories in combination with the live presentations of the guides. Crammed into a bus, there was an unexpected intimacy between audience members. As we traveled through the city, we journeyed through a range of emotions. People cried during Leontine’s story and then clapped and laughed when Rania spontaneously invited her 70-year-old father to dance with her as a Palestinian song played over the loud speaker. We hoped that the bus itself was a vehicle for reflection for our passengers. When you ride a public bus, you never know who you will sit next to and what you might learn.

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Another benefit to the live component of the tour was that we could connect the stories to the larger context of immigration rights and bring up legislation that was under debate at that time. By bringing to light legislative changes, we made personal what would otherwise be a dry or abstract shift in federal immigration policy. At the time, for example, Bill C-11 was under consideration, a bill that would change Canada’s refugee determination process for individuals from certain countries. We reinforced the important message framed by the Canadian Council for Refugees and other concerned advocates that decisions need to be taken based on an individual’s story, regardless of where they are from.

STAYING CONNECTED After such a meaningful project, our challenge was how to stay connected as a group. Inspired by the stories produced for the bus tour, a member of the Life Stories team offered to play the stories on the radio and to run a follow-up workshop in radio production. We opened the invitation to participants from other Mapping Memories projects, and the workshop was an ideal way to stay connected. We have also made a point of checking in with participants when new opportunities to showcase the work come up. When I consulted with Leontine recently about an opportunity to share her story, she replied, “you don’t have to ask me permission to use my story because it is now a public story.” That one line meant a lot to me. She had taken a creative and personal risk to share her story and it could now travel on its own. We had created a safe space to accompany her in the challenge of taking personal stories public.

IT’S ALL CONNECTED Important changes to the refugee determination system were introduced in Canadian Parliament and approved in Bill C-11 in June 2010. At the time of printing, many details regarding how this new law will be implemented still need to be finalized. What is clear is that Parliament-approved, short timelines will have a significant impact on refugees who are more vulnerable, such as survivors of torture, children, and people making refugee claims on the basis of sexual orientation. For many refugee claimants who do not trust authorities or who hesitate to tell their story openly, telling their story to Canadian authorities is extremely intimidating. These tight timelines are also too short for refugee claimants to gather supporting documents and to prepare themselves. For more information, see: www.ccrweb.ca/en/refugee-reform

LEONTINE UWABABYEYI, Rwanda Leontine left her homeland of Rwanda as a refugee and arrived on her own to Montreal. She is always smiling and finds her home with many families of different origins. She is currently studying and has great hopes for the future.

MY TWO FAMILIES I want to tell you a story, a true story, my story. It’s about how quickly your life can change in just three days, and then three months. Day one – April 9, 1994 It is dark out when my story begins. My father tells us to put on our jackets because it is cold and rainy, and we must leave the house and go to sleep at our neighbours. I don’t understand what is going on, but I am happy to go to sleep at my friends. Day two – April 10, 1994 In the morning we return home. Nothing is left in the house. Windows and doors are broken. There are many people around talking to each other. I am eight years old, and for me it is exciting. Everyone is wondering what happened. My mother prepares something to eat. My brother and I are sitting outside. The rest of my family – my father, mother, sister and brother are inside. A lady comes running towards us. She seems crazy. She tells us that they are killing people. We start running. I follow my brother. We go into the woods. We stay there for hours. Then we move to another forest, and there we find our father. But he tells us to leave. It is not safe. When we return, we try to find him but we cannot find him. We stay there the whole night, awake. Day three – April 11, 1994 In the morning we move again. We meet someone who tells us that our mother has been killed. I start crying. I tell my brother that I want my mother, and he tells me that if I continue crying they will kill us. So I stop.

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This is the first time I am sharing this story, and this story is for both of my families. In our family we say, it is better to live twice than to die twice. Leontine Uwababyeyi

A HOME FOR THREE MONTHS My brother and I, we find a banana plantation where we hide in a bush for three months. This bush is our bed, our salon, our toilet; it is everything. For the first few days, a person brings us food twice a week but then he stops. I ask my brother why are we here. He tells me it is because we are Tutsi. I ask him, “Why are we Tutsi?” Then I ask him, “Why can’t we go home?” “Our home is demolished,” he answers. “Why we can’t go to our neighbours?” I ask. Some times he has no answer. I have so many questions. One day, the owner of the plantation comes and tells us that now the killers are hunting with dogs. That it is better to go away. Each night we try to leave. We start and then come back because we see lights, or we hear children crying. On the fourth day, we manage to leave. But on the way we meet a man with a bowl of blood and a knife in his hand. He sees us and screams out to the others, to the Interahamwe. They have knives. They chase us. I fall down, they chase my brother… and three weeks later he is also gone. Three days, three months, three weeks. So much has changed. I have found myself alone. I am the only survivor of my family.

A NEW FAMILY But I am a survivor and today I am 22 years old. And I am no longer alone. I have a new family. I am the mother of this family, and I have 16 children – girls and boys. Some of my children are older than me. You may ask yourself, “how is this possible?” This family grew because of the genocide, because of our need for family. We were the survivors. This is my adopted family, the family who adopted me. My family is made up of orphans, of students at my school who are also trying to fight loneliness. Together we make groups and choose a father and a mother. When you are chosen as a mother you can’t refuse, even if you are shy. I was once shy, but over time I have learned how to be a mother, to take care of my children. I love my family because if you are in a family like this, you share a lot and you are not alone. We visit each other often and share the problems that we have. When one of the family members is happy, we are all happy. If one is sad, we are all sad. You have a lot of things inside that you can’t just share with anyone – but they understand, even without words. In our family we say, it is better to live twice than to die twice. This is the first time I am sharing this story, and this story is for both of my families. In our family we say, it is better to live twice than to die twice.

STEPHANIE GASANA, Rwanda Stephanie is familiar with the refugee experience through her family’s flight from Rwanda. She is passionate about cultural studies and the effects of media on societies. She is inspired by the Life Stories Project and is a regular volunteer at the oral history centre, both conducting and editing videos. She hopes to learn the skills to use all types of media tools and integrate this knowledge to fight against discrimination, passing on her expertise to future generations.

MY SISTER SOLANGE The president of Rwanda once suggested in one of his speeches that the Tutsis should put their memories and pains in a box, lock it and put it away, move on, look forward and focus on the future… is this the answer? Is there a way to connect the past to the present? Without your past, who are you? And does it matter if anyone knows? My family has tried to protect me from their story, especially my sister Solange, who has always been my protector. We were born to the same mother and father, who are from Kibuye, the capital of the western province of Rwanda. But my life story is so different than my sister’s. To begin with, we are 15 years apart. One thing Solange and I have in common is that we both keep journals. I have asked myself, if you looked at journal pages from when we were both 15, would you know that we came from the same family? That we were sisters? If I had been born at the same time as my sister, how would my life have been different? Sisters, silences, secrets: I am on a quest to discover my family story. If my sister and I were to write about home in a page of our journals, could you recognize us as sisters? We do share the same parents, dad is a dreamer who loves adventure and mom is more protective, looking for stability and home when and where she can find it. I have grown up in one place, always lived on the same street in Ethiopia. I feel so attached to that particular place. It’s where I have all of my memories, it’s

my ground, my playground, where I feel grounded, where I yearn to be, and where I know I will ultimately end up. She, on the other hand, never knew how long she would stay in one place, she has moved with my family to Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Lybia, Tunisia, France, and finally Canada, which is the place she has been the longest; it has become her home. She has many memories attached to many different places. There is not one country she would call home. And if we were to write about what family means to us, could you recognize us as sisters? I was born in 1990, a new era for Rwanda, full of hope and reconciliation. It was a new era for my parents as well. They had decided to have a fourth child. I am much younger than all my other sisters. I was born at the best and worst moment; my parents eventually decided to go their separate ways, and forget about the past, live their dreams, and do what they were never allowed to do. My father wanted to make up for lost time. My mom devoted her life to taking care of me. And so I grew up with a single mother, and the rest of my family spread all over the world. Solange, my sister, on the other hand, was born at the beginning of my familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story, when my parents were first coming together. She was born into a big community, surrounded by all my family members, cousins, aunts. And then, everything ended tragically with the genocide, and we lost that extended family, and lost our family at the same time. If we were to write about what identity means to us, could you recognize us as sisters? I am originally from Rwanda, but I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t speak the language, never lived there, and was never really able to visit for more than a week, simply because we have donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any family members left. And so, having grown up in Bole, Addis Ababa, I feel Ethiopian. I am happy when I speak the language, eat the food, listen to the music, and recognize Ethiopian people. Solange, on the other hand, has trouble defining her identity, calling a country hers. She remembers being told that she had no identity, that our family was

stateless. “Don’t tell anyone we are from Rwanda,” my dad once said to her. And she says to me, “Telling a kid to keep something from someone is as if you showed her candy and told her not to touch it.” And, “If you only knew how hard it was,” my sister tells me. Well I want to find out. Our past experiences define who we are, and it is time for me to find my definition through my family’s definition. I have so many questions for Solange: How do you build a home when you are moving all the time? Would you call yourself a refugee? Do you want to forget all about it, or will you ever share it with your children? Could your story make a difference? Some questions are left unanswered, and so I ask myself, how much do I want to know? How much should I know? How much will she allow me to know? I want to move past the secrets, understand the unspoken in all of the ups and the downs, financially, socially, and emotionally. My sister knows the secrets, and I am trying to uncover them. She is my lead, my guide, and I will know just as much as she wants me to know.

MARIE-FRANCOISE ILUNGA SITMAN, Congo Marie-Francoise Ilunga Sitman was born in Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is passionate about food, politics, and African history. She has worked at the YWCA as a project coordinator for Girls Leading Change, which seeks to promote the involvement of women of diverse origins in decision-making bodies.

A TASTE OF HOME When we arrive in a new place, we try to find our bearings. Familiar sounds, faces and foods that help us feel like we belong. Kim Phat is one such place. Stand on the corner of Boulevard Côte-des-Neiges and Goyer street, see the red-topped building with the big white writing… yes, opposite the Plaza… that’s the one! Montreal’s very own cosmopolitan supermarket, as I like to call it. Why, you wonder? Well, step inside and see for yourself. French, Vietnamese, Lingala, Spanish, Cantonese, Pakistani, English, Wolof, Quechua… any one of these languages can be part of what you are hearing from the patrons and the merchants picking, browsing, shelving, weighing the variety of products in the store. The main thing that they have in common is that they are all so different from each other… and yet, they all find what they are looking for under the same roof. Many foreign students from the nearby university flock to Kim Phat to get their hands on the key ingredients to make the dish that will remind them of home, warm their heart, and feed their souls. Anything from cassava leaves to pickled duck eggs, mate and palm oil, red bean ice cream, fresh tilapia or fufu flowers, a gold mine for the homesick, the hungry, or the curious. If you take a moment to look around you, you might notice the couple stocking up to feed a family of four and the student wondering if he (or she) can afford himself (or herself) a taste of home. If however, you come upon someone with a look of complete awe and amazement slowly making their way around the store, do not stare… that would be rude! Instead, understand that they are, for the first time in a long time, coming face to face with food that is triggering memories of childhood, of joy, of family… items that they never imagined to find in Montreal. Of course some, like you, are just amazed by the variety of food they see: plantains, dried fish, frozen banana leaves, cheese curds, etc. Kim Phat is a meeting of different worlds under one roof, a reflection of the very diverse neighborhood that surrounds it, and I think even a metaphor for Montreal. One city with panoply of tastes, textures, packaging, and stories. Pretty tasty if you ask me…

TEN-WEEK MEMORYSCAPE COURSE

Tool box: Pens, 11”x17” paper, digital still cameras (1 to 4 ratio), sound recorder, laptop, projector, screen, USB keys, card reader, editing software, mp3 player, amplifier (Roland Micro Cube) Level of difficulty: Advanced Time: 10 weeks (4 hours a week)

WRITE AND RECORD STORIES »» Have participants draw a map of a place or places that make them feel at home, which might include a store, a community centre, or a community garden. »» Show model texts from similar projects and listen to audio examples. »» Discuss how the final projects will be shared (website, book, audio tour). »» Use quick-writes to get participants writing in class. »» Have students choose a topic and draft and revise their stories. »» Have students read stories out loud to make them more conversational. »» Cover the basics in sound recording (refer to recording sound worksheet). »» Record stories and make sure the delivery is energetic and not rushed. »» Have students record or choose sound effects that enhance stories. »» If students are using music, make sure they record it themselves or use copyleft work, which means they can use it as long as they credit where it came from. »» Cover the basics in photo composition and layout (refer to PowerPoint on Composition and taking photos worksheet).

PowerPoint on Composition

»» Add images and sound effects to each story (Final Cut, Premiere, iMovie, etc.). »» Be sure to hand out course evaluations to get feedback.

PLAN THE TOUR »» Identify a key event or date to showcase the work. »» Determine a bus or walking route based on the places identified in the stories. »» Export sound as MP3 files to play off a digital player on the tour and find a means to amplify the stories. MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

»» Map out and time the route. »» Identify songs to play during the route when participants are not talking. »» Create promotional materials for the tour. »» Do a dress rehearsal. »» Plan time for dealing with the press and practice giving interviews.

RELATED ACTIVITIES DRAW YOUR OWN MAP »» Draw a map of your community. Mark at least two places that make you feel at home, such as a store, a community centre, a community garden, a café, or a place of worship. Is this place unique to you, or is it a location that involves a group or an annual event? Consider if the places you draw are places of gathering, places of shared or collective memory, places of healing, or places of conflict.

SHARE YOUR STORIES »» Rebecca asked her grandmother to share a family recipe and filmed the process. Is there a family recipe that reminds you of home? Write about that dish. Is it a dish for special holidays or an everyday dish? Does someone in your family make the dish? Does it involve special ingredients, and if so, where can you find them? Do you remember the first time you tried it? »» Is there a store like Kim Phat in the Côte-des-Neiges district of Montreal? Write about a place that reminds you of home. Who and what do you see when you are there? When do you go? What do you hear in the store? »» Stephanie’s story is about wanting to uncover a story. She knows the basics but she wants to understand the full story. Write about a story you would like to uncover – is it personal or public?

MAP YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD Marie-Francoise talks about the diversity of the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood. What is the neighborhood like where you live? Map the places that contribute to making your neighborhood a diverse and exciting place. These can include places for learning, for eating, for praying, for sharing cultural events, or simply places you enjoy that newcomers might not easily find on their own.

MAKE YOUR FAMILY TREE Leontine talks about having two families, a biological family and a chosen family. Do you have a chosen family? Create an alternative family tree and include people who are not tied to you by blood, but who you consider family. Who would you include in this tree and why? How do you define family? In this family, do you have a different role than you would in your biological family?

CREATE YOUR OWN MEMORYSCAPE Think about significant places from your past. They might include a classroom, a hospital, or a room in your house. Using all five senses, try to recall the details of that place – what you heard, what you observed, the mood. Use these stories to create a memoryscape by yourself or with a group. »» What are the most telling details about this place? »» Is this place distinct at different times of the day? »» Who else has experienced this place? »» Did a turning point or big event happen here? What did you learn? How were you different before or afterward? »» Has this place changed over time? »» Is there someone who has made a difference in your life that knows this place? »» Is there music connected to the place, a song, other sounds? »» Are there photos connected to the place, or can you take photos of it?

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TIMELINE ACTIVITY Timelines are excellent tools for organizing and visualizing historical events over time. They help situate events and individuals in relation to each other. A timeline can be used with a community group or in a classroom.

OBJECTIVES »» To create a visual record of chronological historical details. »» To reflect on how trends, ideologies, or themes in history develop over time. »» To promote critical thinking about the construction of history and how that history is not about one past but about multiple pasts. »» To make history personal by exploring our own connections to historical events. »» To encourage community building or intergenerational exchange by bringing together collective experiences of a historic event. In other words, to explore a group’s collective memory.

MAKE A TIMELINE »» Divide your participants into working groups and assign a place and a historical time period. »» Determine the range of time you plan to cover on the timeline, and then divide this into units of measurement or periods. For example, in a community timeline created about the Rwandan genocide, they focused on the following: 1950-1970 (emphasis on 1959, 1st wave of violence) 1970-1990 (emphasis on 1973, 2nd wave of violence) 1990-2010 (emphasis on 1994, the Genocide of Tutsis) »» Ask participants to fill out a card/s with a memory or a significant event. »» Have them include the year, month, and day in which the event took place. »» Explain that they can include their names, initials, or remain anonymous. »» Have participants pin their memory or event card/s in the appropriate time period. »» Facilitate a group discussion. Explore new insights regarding the collective events of the timeline. Exercise adapted from the Rwanda Life Stories working group.

Tool box: Pens, small coloured square cards, pins, cardboard panels.

A COMMUNITY TIMELINE UNDERSTANDING THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE The Rwandan Working Group of the Life Stories Project held a day of reflection and intergenerational dialogue in April 2010, bringing together over 100 people. They used a timeline exercise to reflect on the past, to broaden their understanding of what took place in Rwanda, and to integrate personal experiences into a historical record.

Date of event: 1983 through 1989 Event : Humiliation during all of secondary school, as our classmates from the northern region made sure they made our lives miserable.

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Date of event : 1992

Date of event : 1986

Event : It was the day my father was beaten up by the Interhamwe, he was beaten up so badly that he lost his memory, he could not remember our names, he could not remember his children names.

Event : I learned that my husband could not even consider going back to his native country, as there was no place for him, there was no freedom whatsoever. Written by a non-Rwandan.

I wrote about the first time I heard about the word genocide, which was during a history class; I was 10 years old, and my French teacher said to me that I came from a country where there had been one of the greatest genocides of the 20th century. I was not sure what it meant, but from the sound of his voice, I knew it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t good. It was a deep and unforgettable experience. Stephanie Gasana, Rwanda Working Group, Life Stories

Rwanda is situated in the Great Lakes Region of Africa and is neighbored by Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda. Originally inhabited by two indigenous groups, the Hutus and Tutsis, tensions between these two groups crystallized with the arrival of colonization; Rwanda became a German and then a Belgian colony. Anti-colonial and anti-Tutsi sentiment mounted, and in 1959 the majority Hutus overthrew the Tutsi king. The country gained independence in 1962, but tensions between the Tutsis and the Hutus continued to develop over the next 30 years.

The Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front defeated the Hutu regime in 1991, but the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prolonged conflict was not over. Tensions and chaos culminated in the 1994 genocide, where extremist Hutu militia killed hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. There is much debate over the muted international response to the genocide. Rwanda held its first post-genocide presidential elections in 2003 and the Hutus are still a majority at 85% of the population, while the Tutsis make up 15%.

To me the timeline we created was like a history book with pages full of what our grand parents, our parents, our older brothers and sisters witnessed and lived through. I learned new ways to explain how the Rwandan Genocide began. Before attending the conference I would say that the Genocide began in 1994 but the timeline showed the events leading up to this. Leontine Uwababyeyi, Rwandan Working Group, Life Stories

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RECORDING AND USING SOUND TO TELL STORIES WHAT KINDS OF SOUNDS ARE YOU USING? »» »» »» »»

Voice: narration, conversation, interview, etc. Music: instruments, arrangements, vocals Sound effects: ambient sounds Silence: the absence of sound (room tone is the sound of a room)

HOW ARE YOU USING SOUNDS? The meaning of a sound: Ask yourself why you are using this sound and what thoughts or emotions it triggers. For example, someone crying or a violin playing are often used to communicate sadness or loss. The meaning of sounds varies depending on location and context. Honks may indicate traffic, frustration, and overcrowding in one context, and in another they may indicate a busy and thriving location. Duration: How long will the sound last? Will it be sudden or continuous? Repetition: Is the use of repetition stressful or soothing? Intensity: Should the sound be far away and faint? Or close and loud?

WHAT ARE YOU RECORDING WITH? Selecting a recording device: There are many good digital recorders, but make sure you check that your recording device has a microphone and headphone input. Selecting a microphone: A lavalier (tie clip) is a good microphone to use for interviews because it is close to the person speaking and helps isolate his or her voice from other sounds. A directional microphone is also useful for interviews, while an omni microphone records environmental sounds well.

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Microphone handling: If you are using a directional microphone, hold it carefully and use your headphones to listen for your own handling sounds. If you attach a lavalier microphone to your subject, make sure they don’t hit the microphone by mistake with animated hand gestures. It is a good idea to get some practice recording and listening to your recordings to find out how much handling sound you make. Some unwanted noises can be edited out later, but the fewer you start with, the better. Wearing headphones: You always need to wear headphones when recording sound to monitor what you are recording. With headphones, you will know if your battery runs out or if the microphone is not working properly.

Unwanted Noises: One of the best places to record narration is in a sound studio or closet. These locations are insulated from outside sounds. If you are in a noisy environment, try moving away from the noise source and placing the microphone as close as possible to your subject. It is hard to record when there are heavy winds, so the best option is to go inside or find a way to cover the microphone.

Levels: Make sure you are recording at consistent audio levels. If the sound levels are either too high or too low it can sound distorted.

FIND YOUR KEY CHAIN EXERCISE:

RECORDING EXERCISE

Collect the keychains of everyone in the group. Have participants close their eyes. Shake each key set and ask participants to raise their hand if they identify their key set. Discuss the relationship between sound and memory.

»» Select a theme for a recording exercise, such as ‘my favourite singer’ or ‘my first pet.’

LISTENING EXERCISES: Write down all the sounds you hear in the room. As a group discuss what you heard. Next to each sound, be sure to note:

»» The actual sounds – honking, chirping, coughing, sniffling, shuffling papers »» The sources of sounds – radio, television, street »» The qualities of sounds – muffled, loud, sudden, continuous

SOUND EDITING TIPS: »» Use music sparingly since it can be distracting »» Make sure the levels are mixed so that the volumes of the voice, sound effects and music permit you to hear everything clearly. Use audio fades for smooth transitions.

SOFTWARE TO EDIT SOUNDS Audacity: www.audacity.sourceforge.net

»» Write a short narration of at least five lines, and record this narration in three different locations, such as a closet, a kitchen, a back porch, or a coffee shop. »» Make sure to keep the microphone at the same distance while recording. »» Now listen to the recordings in a different environment like a bedroom or office. Compare the three recordings. »» Take notes of any sound effects or music you might want to include if you were to add to the narration.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND SOUND EFFECTS OR MUSIC: Music Sites www.publicdomain2ten.com www.musopen.com Sound effects www.freesound.org www.ccmixter.org www.partnersinrhyme.com www.audiomicro.com/free-sound-effects www.soundjay.com

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER »» Where will these personal stories be shared? In a closed setting like a workshop, or will you publish them online for a wider audience? »» What are the benefits and risks of sharing personal experiences with a larger audience? »» Are there any privacy or security risks to consider? »» Who is the target audience? How will you work to make the stories relevant for different audiences – policy makers, educators, community members, or academics? »» How will you support the group to stay connected to each other? »» Do you plan to reach out to the press, and if so, why?

FILM RESOURCES Shake Hands with the Devil (2007) Sometimes in April (2005) Hotel Rwanda (2004)

REFERENCES Blackman, Anna and Tiffany Fairey. The PhotoVoice Manual. London: PhotoVoice, 2008. www.photovoice.org Campano, Gerald. Immigrant Students and Literacy: Reading, Writing and Remembering. New York: Teachers College Press, 2007. Kittle, Penny. Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing. Portsmouth NH: Heineman Publishing, 2008. Lambert, Joe. Digital Storytelling Cookbook. Berkeley: Centre for Digital Storytelling, 2010. Romano, Tom. Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing Multigenre Papers. Portsmouth NH: Boynton Cook Publishers, 2000. MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

Tactical Technology Collective. www.tachticaltech.org Museu da Pessoa (Museum of the Person). “Tecnologia Social da Memoria (Social Technology of Memory).” Sao Paolo, Brazil: Museu da Pessoa, 2009. www.museudapessoa.net

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We use our music to express ourselves, our lives, the religions of our parents, and the culture of our countries. Vinh, 18 years old, Canadian Vietnamese hip hop artist from Roots to Rap With: A Music Video

ROOTS TO RAP WITH: EXPRESSING IDENTITY THROUGH MUSIC

THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF MUSIC Music has the remarkable ability to transcend social, cultural, and linguistic barriers. Have you ever used music to communicate a part of yourself? Have you ever heard a song that helped you understand an experience outside of your own? How are artists using music to communicate and explore culture and identity? How do musicians use the power of their voices to share their refugee and newcomer experiences? How can music foster a sense of belonging and be used to negotiate multiple cultural identities? Music is a language that we all share. One song can reach people of different beliefs, cultures, and backgrounds. Making music or listening to music can help us get through tough times, and can help us to uncover something that we might not have otherwise seen.

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ROOTS TO RAP WITH:

EXPLORING THE LIFE STORIES METHOD THROUGH MUSIC Gracia Dyer Jalea

OVERVIEW Over the course of three years, Mapping Memories collaborated with the Côte-des-Neiges youth centre on a series of art and musicbased participatory media projects. We explored the ways art has been used by young people to both discover and express their cultural heritage and identity. Our work with the centre began with an eight-week Life Stories workshop that used video, still images, and peer interviewing as its main artistic forms. Following this, we worked with a young, culturally diverse music collective called NoBadSound and helped the group create a music video called Roots to Rap With. This video was largely inspired by a series of life story interviews we conducted with Montreal-based artists, who originally came to the city as either immigrants or refugees. Several of these artists have been mentors at the youth centre. Their interviews were used to create Making a Difference, a video series that focused on the role that music and mentorship have played in the artists’ lives. The Côte-des-Neiges youth centre (Maison des Jeunes) is one of Montreal’s most vibrant youth centres, located in a neighbourhood that is recognized for its cultural diversity. Welcoming teens between the ages of 12 and 18, the centre provides youth with various arts-based activities. In 2007, the centre opened NoBadSound Studio to offer aspiring young musicians a venue

to develop their musical talents and to express themselves artistically. The studio includes a small recording space, a rehearsal space, and a performance venue. It offers neighbourhood youth a wide variety of music-based workshops, including beat boxing, rapping, lyrical composition, voice lessons, music production, DJing, and performance skills.

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GOALS

AN IDEAL PARTNER

The objective of the Mapping Memories Project was to work alongside youth to help them express their experiences as newcomers to Canada. With the Refugee Youth working group of the Montreal Life Stories Project, we wanted to add a youth perspective to the collection of testimonies of Montrealers displaced by war, genocide, and other human rights violations. Despite their age, we knew that the youth involved with this project had a lot to share with the larger community. Our main challenge, however, was how to approach a “Life Story” with individuals whose lives were just beginning. We wanted to make the process more engaging than a straightforward interview. We decided instead to offer a digital media workshop on peer interviewing, and, in doing so, began to explore alternative forms of life stories.

We found an ideal partner in the Côte-des-Neiges youth centre, located in one of Montreal’s most culturally diverse neighborhoods. The centre, situated in the neighborhood’s core, has functioned as a magnet for Côte-des-Neiges youth, offering workshops in art, music, and dance. Although other centres in the city have been struggling to attract youth, this place is vibrant, alive, and full of young people.

When we began our workshops at the centre, we were interested in uncovering the circumstances that brought individuals to Montreal, finding out how these young people related to their countries of origin, and looking at the ways in which they had managed to adjust to their new lives in Canada.

Robints’ success as a director is also the result of his open approach to collaborate with projects like Mapping Memories. The centre, which operates on a modest budget, is constantly in search of projects that offer neighbourhood youth the chance to explore alternative forms of self-expression that they might not otherwise find at school.

What challenges did they face when they first arrived? Had they maintained ties with their former homelands, and if so, how? How had their country of origin informed their identity? How were they negotiating the cultures of their families and homelands with the culture that they were now being exposed to in Canada?

The success of the centre is due, in large part, to a dedicated team of young volunteers and staff members, many of whom have lived in the area and consider the centre a second home. At the head of this team is Robints Paul, the centre’s director since 2005. Robints is a role model and a mentor to the neighborhood youth. One young teenager, Tristan, who had recently arrived from St. Lucia, explained that his relationship with Robints was like that of an older brother.

I BELONG WORKSHOP: PHOTOGRAPHS AND SELF-REPRESENTATION The I Belong workshop was our first project at the centre and involved a core group of six participants. It enabled our team, Colleen French of the Canadian Council for Refugees along with Liz Miller and Gracia Dyer Jalea of Mapping Memories, to better understand the rhythms and philosophy of the centre. For the first session, we prepared an exercise on perception and personal biases. We began with a PowerPoint presentation with portraits of youth. The idea was to imagine the personality and personal story behind each portrait. Next to the portraits were leading questions, such as: What kind of music does this person listen to? Where was this person born? How many siblings does he or she have?

Afterwards we explained that all of the photos were of youth with refugee experiences. We asked participants to think about how they had arrived at their conclusions, discussing how a photograph can be interpreted in many ways. By exploring together the difference between reading a photograph and reading into a photograph, we were able to talk about biases and perceptions. The perception exercise was a fun way to introduce the concept of stereotypes as well as the challenges of self-representation.

Perception PowerPomit

We then asked the group to think about how they might represent themselves through still photos. We shared examples of photo essays such as Passage to Canada (www. passagestocanada.com), a project featuring innovative photo essays of newcomers to Montreal. Following a presentation on photo composition, participants worked in small groups

Jean Charles, a 16-year-old Haitian Canadian, left his family behind and moved to Montreal with his older brother. Since his arrival, he has been an active member of the Côte-desNeiges youth centre. He resides over the centre’s Youth Committee.

PHOTOVOICE The I Belong workshop used the PhotoVoice methodology, which incorporates text and photographs. PhotoVoice is an international organization that has led participatory action photography projects around the world. PhotoVoice projects use photography as an advocacy tool to help individuals voice their personal experiences of oppression and lobby for social reform. For more information, see www.photovoice.org

Bylow is an aspiring DJ from St. Lucia. Since coming to Montreal, he has taken an interest in community radio and regularly DJs for the Côte-des-Neiges youth centre.

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to practice using the cameras. Accompanied by a facilitator, the youth took photographs of their neighborhood. On other occasions, they took self-portraits and photos of objects that defined them. We reviewed the photographs together and discussed what made some of them especially strong. Participants wrote a caption for each photograph, in their handwriting on an index card that revealed something about themselves. The cards were scanned into Photoshop and used to create digital montages, combining text and photographs. By the end of the workshop, each participant had created an 11”x13” photomontage and these were mounted on the walls of the centre.

PEER INTERVIEWS Following the still camera exercises, we worked with the group on peer interviews. We introduced the basics of interviewing, including how to keep questions ‘open-ended.’ For example, instead of asking, “How old where you when you came to Montreal?” they might ask, “What were your first impressions when you arrived?” Additional openended questions included: Why are you here? What do you think of Canadians? What does home mean to you? The participants took turns asking and answering questions. The peer interview process worked best when it involved video cameras and microphones. Learning media production skills motivated them to share their life stories with each other. Using the equipment also offered participants a meaningful way to be involved, as they had to stay focused on their roles as sound recorder, sound monitor, interviewee, interviewer, director, or cinematographer.

CONFRONTING STEREOTYPES ABOUT REFUGEES by Colleen French Our workshop was largely about building trust, busting myths, and breaking down barriers to understanding one another. It was important to have common points of reference when we talked about what it meant to be uprooted from your home and begin a new life in Montreal. The members of the group came to Montreal for different reasons: some were sponsored by their parents who already lived in Canada, others came to Canada as refugee claimants. Because the Mapping Memories project mandate was to gather the stories of ‘refugee youth,’ we raised the concept of ‘being a refugee’ early on in the sessions. The initial reactions of group members were to say things like ‘refugees are people who don’t have enough food,’ ‘refugees are poor,’ or, referring to another member of the group, ‘He isn’t a refugee!’ We felt the need to clear up some misunderstandings. The legal definition used to determine who is a refugee and what it means to have refugee status in Canada is complex and abstract. The “What is a Refugee?” PowerPoint presentation and workshop defined ‘refugee’ interactively through pictures, which helped clarify it for the group. For some members in the group who arrived in Montreal as refugee claimants, it was a shock to learn that the government might refuse their refugee claim. Even if they believed their stories met the legal definition of needing ‘refugee protection,’ the government might not agree. Beyond definitions, our message to the group was that no matter the outcome of the government decision, their stories were valid and we respected them for sharing. All of the participants had experiences that needed to be heard, and we were there to help them raise their voices. The “What is a Refugee?” PowerPoint presentation can be found at ccrweb.ca.

INTERVIEWS WITH MENTORS To further develop their interviewing skills, we interviewed Ayanda Dubé (see Chapter 1), who had arrived in Montreal as an unaccompanied minor and then made a film about his life story. Ayanda, an active volunteer with the Canadian Council for Refugees, shared his experiences with the group and discussed the process of making his film. Having a chance to practice interviewing skills with someone from outside of the group was important for the youth, and through their questions, we learned more about the concerns of the group’s members. For example, one young participant who had come to Montreal with his brother asked Ayanda, “If you are no longer living in Zimbabwe, and you are not a resident of Canada, then what are you in this country?” Through this experience, the youth were able to connect to Ayanda as a role model. They saw him as a reflection of themselves, and in asking him questions, they were able to confront their own concerns about their identities and their connections to this new country.

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Toward the end of the eight-week workshop, a radio journalist from the CBC contacted us to do a story on the project. We hoped that this experience would provide yet another chance to practice interviewing. The reporter showed the group how to use the radio equipment and offered participants a chance to reflect on the most valuable aspects of the workhsop. The radio interview also offered a unique opportunity for group members to share their opinions with a national audience.

LIFE STORIES THROUGH MUSIC Over the course of the I Belong workshop, we had the chance to observe the important role that Robints and his team played in the lives of the young people at the centre. Inspired by his leadership, we interviewed him for the Montreal Life Stories Project. Robints is also a well-known Haitian hip-hop artist. Using his stage name, Vox Sambou, Robints performs with a local Montreal group, Nomadic Massive. This hip-hop group, formed by young men and women from varying cultural backgrounds (South America, the Caribbean, and Northern Africa), use their native tongues to powerfully convey the immigrant and refugee experience. Through their music, the group has traveled the world, performing and advocating for social justice. Robints’ interest in music and the arts, and his career as a hip-hop MC, has inspired the youth at the centre to explore the role that music could play in their lives. He uses his personal experiences to relate to the young people. His willingness to be open has resulted in relationships founded on trust, mutual understanding, and respect. Over the course of the following two years, we conducted six additional interviews with musicians for the Life Stories Project, most of whom were members of Nomadic Massive. The musicians, many of whom had come to Montreal as immigrants and refugees, were also active leaders in their communities, and worked as teachers, journalists, and organizers. In addition, several helped out with activities at the youth centre, and acted as role models and mentors to the youth. Three of these interviews were edited into short films.

WHAT IS ORAL HISTORY? WHAT IS A LIFE STORY? Steve High, Co-Director, Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling Oral history is a method of understanding the past through oral accounts, such as an interview or conversation. It is the study of the past as it is remembered in the present. What is remembered and why is vitally important in oral history. Meaning and memory can be found in the words spoken, as well as in the voice or gestures of the individual. People’s relationship to their own stories, where they linger and what they skip over, helps us understand the logic of what we are hearing. The life story approach is a practice within oral history. This approach finds meaning in the context of a life lived. It also puts memory front and centre, which in the case of human rights and genocide, is a rare practice. More typically, interviews are conducted only for information and very little space is given to the larger story. Holocaust survivors, for example, are asked to cover the what, when, who, and where of their experiences. Their recorded interviews typically begin and end in the violence perpetrated and because of this tendency, we learn very little about the impact of that experience, how violence ripples through people’s lives, families, and communities. A life story interview includes the ‘before’ and the ‘after,’ telling us more about what was lost and how an event shaped people’s subsequent lives – the silences, absences, memories, and activism. Within the Life Stories of Montreal project, interviewees are invited to become co-producers in their own stories, and are asked to participate in all stages of production by helping to develop questions, review transcripts, and assist with any postproduction. Each interviewee maintains joint ownership over his or her own story, an opportunity that is rarely afforded to an interview subject in mainstream media.

ROBINTS PAUL AKA VOX SAMBOU, Haiti

Video Interview with Robints

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Born and raised in Limbe, a town in Northern Haiti, Robints left the country with his four brothers in the early 1990s, when Haiti was going through a period of intense political turmoil. Through the assistance of his brother, a priest who had been studying in Montreal at the time, Robints immigrated to Canada at the age of 19. He studied in Winnipeg before moving to Montreal. He founded the hip-hop group Nomadic Massive along with his current bandmates, and as Vox Sambou, he uses his music as a vehicle for self-expression and to build social and political awareness.

You really have to listen a lot and get to know the youth. You cannot be afraid to share your personal experiences with them. They’re adolescents, and like so many people their age, they are looking for their own identity. Most of the youth that I work with have just arrived to Montreal. So on top of searching for themselves, they are also looking to adjust and find their own identity within the context of their new environment. Robints Paul

Robints encourages the youth at the Côte-des-Neiges centre to use the arts as a way to express, discover, and remember who they are as individuals. For him, music is a means to build self-confidence and awareness; and it allows him to express his pride for his country, heritage, language, and culture by singing in Creole, French, and English. In addition to his promising music career, Robints has been the Director of the Maison des Jeunes Côte-desNeiges since 2005. www.nomadicmassive.com

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LYRICS FROM VOX SAMBOU’S SONG, “ARTICLE 14” (These excerpted lyrics have been translated by Vox Sambou from Creole)

We say enough is enough, let’s put our strengths together to rise up Determined this has to change, the soil is toxic, a cause of many genocides Look at the children, their skin is like plastic Their cases are critical, politicians without conscience Corrupted assassins, it’s a satanic movement Where is Jean Dominique, Patrice Lumumba Your souls will stay alive like Che Guevara’s Like Mandela, we must fight for justice Until we gain victory We know our rights Let me breathe and stop the oppression Our grandfathers sacrificed their lives for our existence You kidnapped our women in factories, as they stayed silent You think it makes sense for them to be swimming in suffering The slave’s son never has any rights They are not equal in the eyes of the law With no representative, they are imprisoned in the dark It’s time for revolution, this is our mission So many executions we have no protection A lot of men had sold out and lost their reason It’s a destructive system of hanging and destroying us with poison They harassed us so much they make us hate one another For their own interest, we risk our lives in boats If we arrived alive, they treated us like objects But we have the blood of the cocoa warriors One day we will gain victory.

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ROOTS TO RAP WITH: A MUSIC VIDEO We were inspired by our interviews with the Nomadic Massive group and wanted to work with the centre again. We learned that the band members were mentoring a new group at the NoBadSound Studio and had helped them to produce a CD. Robints approached us to work on a music video with this newly formed hip-hop group, made up of teens between the ages of 16 and 18, who sang about the struggles that they faced, in Tagalog, French, English, and Spanish. The group had also performed live at a Nomadic Massive performance, where they shared the stage with their mentors. Unlike the I Belong workshop, the Roots to Rap With project came from a clear mandate from Robints. Now we had an opportunity to collaborate with an emerging musical group that had a vested interest and specific goal in mind. We arranged a time to meet the group at the NoBadSound Studio to discuss their vision for the music video project. Together with the youth and their mentors, we began to brainstorm. Our suggestion was to produce a short documentary on how their experiences and cultures had influenced their music. We explained that it would be similar to the interviews that we had conducted with their mentors from Nomadic Massive.

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Stills from Roots to Rap With video

After some lively and informative discussions, we decided that we would inter-cut scenes of the music video with parts of their interviews in a format similar to that of popular music broadcasters, MuchMusic and MTV. The youth were very happy about this opportunity and were

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encouraged by the fact that their mentors had completed a similar project with Mapping Memories. The presence of their mentors at the meeting was reassuring and helped us to come up with a shared vision.

MAPPING LOCATIONS FOR THE MUSIC VIDEO The first step was to map out the visual elements of the video, including where the video would be shot and what clothes the performers would wear. We asked participants to consider the significance of each visual element and to make their selections based on locations and clothes that held meaning for them. These details would function as visual signifiers to allow the audience to learn more about them as individuals. It was clear from our first meeting that the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood was significant to them and

represented a place of belonging. For this reason, the group decided to shoot the majority of the video in and around popular landmarks and meaningful places in Côte-desNeiges, such as the NoBadSound Studio, St. Joseph’s Oratory, and the local shopping mall.

INTERVIEWS Once the visual elements of the video had been decided upon, we discussed the questions that we would ask each interviewee. We devised a list of ten standard questions, adapted from the artist series, and shared them prior of each interview.The questions were posed in both French and English, and we encouraged them to answer in the language that felt most comfortable for them. We also did warm-up questions with each participant. Each interview lasted thirty minutes.

QUESTIONS FROM THE ROOTS TO RAP WITH PROJECT »» Start off by introducing yourself: state your name, your age, where you’re from. »» Do you connect with your parents’ culture? If so, why? If not, why not? »» How do your dreams differ from those of your parents? »» What does Côte-de-Neiges mean to you? What makes Côtede-Neiges feel like home? »» You are a culturally diverse group, similar to those who live in the Côte-de-Neiges area. How does NoBadSound and your music reflect the neighbourhood and the communities that live in Côte-de-Neiges?

»» What are some of the issues that youth in Côte-de-Neiges face and do you sing about these in your music? What is important to youth in Côte-de-Neiges? »» What are stereotypes that people have of hip-hop and youth in Côte-de-Neiges? »» Does your music define who you are? And if so, what does your music say about you? »» Why is music such an important part of your life? Why were you drawn to it? »» What advice would you give other youth in your community?

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FILMING AND EDITING To make the film we allocated two on-location camera days. One day was dedicated to interviewing and another day to shooting the music video. Throughout the production process, the youth were very supportive of one another. When they were not in front of the camera themselves, they observed their peers from behind the camera. They listened and learned from each other about their influences, family histories, cultures, dreams, and hopes for the future. In doing so, they not only learned new things about each other, but also had a chance to reflect on their own lived experiences. Following the interviews, we invited the group to Concordia University Television (CUTV), a community television station, to review the footage we had shot over the two days. We chose to edit at CUTV to introduce the youth to a community resource that they might take advantage of at a later date and because the studio offered a window into the university community. Over the course of an evening, each individual was asked to review their own interview and to evaluate and rate sections of it on a scale of one to five. A rating of one meant the material should not

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be seen by an outside audience. A rating of five meant that they would like it to be in the final video. We also asked them to write comments to explain their rating decisions and their impressions. This reflective exercise was no easy task. On the one hand, a first viewing of an interview is always awkward. Few of us have a chance to see ourselves so closely, and what we view is often at odds with how we perceive ourselves. While reviewing the interview footage, we made sure to give the participants a chance to react to seeing themselves on film. All the members of the group were critical while watching themselves on camera. Our role as facilitators was to help them get past the first stage of self-consciousness and, with patience and encouragement, help them to see themselves with new eyes, as leaders in their community. During a second editing session, the youth made it known that they were very pleased with the results of the interviews, but less interested in the tedious editing process. Taking our cue from them, we completed the editing process, based on the decisions that they had made during the CUTV editing session.

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IMPACT Roots to Rap With, which combined interview segments and the group’s lively performance, was a finalist in Radio-Canada’s Roots Competition (www.roots.rcinet.ca). It was enthusiastically received at festivals including Montreal’s Vue D’Afrique and Toronto’s Regent Park Film Festival. The organizers of the Regent Park festival invited the youth to Toronto for the opening night, to perform and speak on a panel about their experiences producing the film. They were also invited to speak at the 2010 Hip-Hop Symposium at McGill University. Whether standing at the podium of a university lecture hall or performing on a stage in Toronto in front of hundreds of people, the NoBadSound crew was beginning to see the impact of their music on a range of diverse audiences. Through the I Belong and the Roots to Rap With projects, youth were given the opportunity to explore how to use their voices and talents both as tools for self discovery and as a means to inspire others. As facilitators, we were inspired by the work they produced and how they presented it with pride and conviction. We learned, as Robints advised, to listen to them and to adapt our agenda to accommodate their needs and interests, while also exposing them to a world outside of their own.

Stills from Roots to Rap With video

You cannot just ignore your identity. For me, you need this connection from where you come from in order for you to grow and evolve. Vox Sambou

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YASSIN ALSALMAN AKA THE NARCICYST, IRAQ

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I found my own way of protesting, which is on the stage. In the beginning my music was very politically driven, but I always wrote two verses: one from my Eastern upbringing and one from my Western upbringing […]. I have tried to reconcile these two worlds that I grew up in through my music. Within me, I think I’ve finally found a place that is accepting of both. Yassin Alsalman

Since the age of five, Yassin has crossed borders, shuffled citizenships and learned to live in a variety of places as an Iraqi Canadian. He was born in the United Arab Emirates, moved to Montreal with his family in 1987, and by the age of 13, he returned to Dubai to attend high school. He later came back to Montreal to attend Concordia University, where he studied Political Science and Communication Studies. Video Interview with Yassin

Performing under the name “The Narcicyst,” he writes provocative lyrics that capture the immigrant experience. Through music, art, and education, he has succeeded in becoming an influential voice in the Montreal community and is a mentor for young people who wish to follow in his footsteps. www.iraqisthebomb.com

DEEQA IBRAHIM AKA EMPRESS DEEQA, SOMALIA

It was music that took me away from my family, and it was music that helped them find me again. I love reggae. It gives hope to people like me. Every time I was feeling down, I used to put on Gregory Isaacs and Night Nurse, the whole CD, and I used to feel better. You see, some people see a therapist. Me, my therapy was to put some reggae on and listen.

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Deeqa Ibrahim

Deeqa displayed musical talent at a very young age, and she even sang for the President of her country, Somalia. Accompanied by her teacher and fellow choir members, Deeqa left home to go on a musical tour that she expected would only last a few days. While she was on tour, a civil war broke out in Somalia. As a result, Deeqa was unable to return home to Mogadishu. She, along with her teacher and fellow companions, were forced to flee to Kenya. After living in a refugee camp for some time, and with the assistance of volunteers, she was sent to Saskatoon, where she would spend the rest of her adolescent years learning English and completing a degree in education. After twenty years of separation, Deeqa was finally reunited with her family after her nephew saw a video of her on YouTube, during a performance at Montreal’s Nuit D’Afrique festival. Deeqa currently lives in Montreal where she is an active reggae musician. www.myspace.com/empressdeeqa

Video Interview with Deeqa

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RELATED ACTIVITIES

Tool box: Perception PowerPoint, projector, laptop. Level of difficulty: Beginner Time: 20 - 60 min.

PERCEPTION EXERCISE This activity will challenge participants to identify and confront their own personal biases. Participants are asked to form groups of two. Each group receives a photograph of an individual and a list of questions. These questions can include: »» What is this person’s name? »» How old is this person? »» What languages does he or she speak? »» Where was this person born? »» What is his or her favourite music? »» What is his or her favourite food? »» What is his or her favourite subject in school?

Perception PowerPoint

Each group will guess the answers to each question, and present their answers to the larger group. Once they have finished, the facilitator will reveal the true identity of the subject in the photograph (included in the Perception PowerPoint). If the majority of participants don’t know each other, they can use the same questions to guess each other’s identity before moving on to the Perception Exercise.

LIFE STORY PLAYLIST Vox Sambou uses music to share his life experiences. If you were to tell the story of your life through music, what songs would you choose? On a blank piece of paper, list songs that mean something to you or that represent turning points – moments of big change in your life. List at least five to ten songs that you would feature on your life story playlist. Turn the paper over and write a response to two of the following questions, or draw an image to represent your answer. Share your reflections with the group. »» Why is this song important? MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

»» Where was I and how old was I when I first heard this song? »» Is there a specific memory connected to the song? »» Does this song remind me of someone important to me? »» What does this song say about me as a person? »» How did the song influence a personal change?

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MUSIC VIDEO EXERCISE The NoBadSound collective communicate their stories, ideas, and values through their music. If you were to share a personal story through a music video, what would it be about and where would you shoot it? Consider all of the following questions. LOCATIONS: »» What are five significant locations for me? Why? »» What do these locations say about me and my life? »» What are my favorite memories of these places? CLOTHES: »» What clothes would I wear in the video? »» What do these clothes say about who I am as a person, and about my personal history and ancestry? CAST:

»» Who should I include in my video? »» What is my relation to these individuals and why are they important to me? »» What role have they played in my personal history or how have they contributed to my life? What lessons have they taught me? For each category explain your decisions. What do you hope these visual elements will communicate to your viewing audience about your life? Following this exercise, create a storyboard of your music video and share it with the others in your group.

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HOW TO CONDUCT A LIFE STORY INTERVIEW These tips were developed by the Life Stories Project and can be adapted to fit the age group or project you are working with.

Tool box: Sound recorder or video camera with tripod, charged batteries, headphones, consent form.

RESEARCH AND PRE-PRODUCTION Research Questions: Why are you doing this interview? What kind of advanced research will you do? Are there specific themes you want to address that will guide your interview? Why do you think the subject has agreed to the interview? Are the expectations on both sides clear? Preparing for an interview may also involve a pre-visit and preliminary research related to the subject. Audience/Outreach: Prior to conducting a life stories interview, you and the interviewee should consider your audiences. Who would you like your work to reach and why? Who can benefit from your story? Interview Questions: Formulate a short list of questions that will guide your interview. Ten questions are sufficient for a one-hour interview. Location: In collaboration with your interview subject, choose a location for the interview. What does the location of the interview say about the interviewee? Recording Technology: Choose a recording technology that you are familiar with. Practice using the technology prior to the interview and make sure the batteries are charged. If you are video recording, recruit someone to manage the camera, so that you can focus on the interviewee. Prior to the interview, ensure that the interviewee is comfortable with the recording technology you plan to use.

CONSENT

Sample Consent Form MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

Once the interview has been organized, review the consent form with the interviewee and discuss any concerns or questions that he or she may have. The consent form is an agreement of trust. It outlines: the relationship between the interviewer and interviewee, the places and venues where the interview may be seen and distributed, how the interview will be used, and what benefits and risks this use might present for the interviewee. When reviewing the consent form with the interviewee, ask him or her to consider the audience that will be viewing the interview. How might this audience impact what the interviewee decides to share or keep private? Once this question has been considered, the interviewee and the interviewer both sign the agreement. The interviewer and the interviewee should each keep a copy of the consent form. It is an agreement of trust and a practical way to exchange contact information. We have a sample consent form on our website.

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PRODUCTION: THE INTERVIEW If you are bringing a technical crew (e.g. videographer, sound recorder), make sure you schedule enough time to set up. Do not rush the interview and allow the interviewee time to answer the questions.

POST PRODUCTION Blog: Write a short reflection 24 hours following the interview to record your impressions of the interview. We have included a sample in this chapter. Transcription: Transcribe the interview and review the transcript. Make a copy of the transcript, so you will have one to archive and one to turn into your ‘paper edit.’ On the copy, highlight the most interesting parts of the interview with your target audience or final goal in mind. This is useful later in the editing process. Shared Ownership: Send a copy of the interview and the transcription to the interviewee. Once he or she has reviewed the material, provide the interviewee with an opportunity to comment, delete, and/or add any additional content. Rough Cut: Using your ‘paper edit,’ create a rough cut (draft) of the interview. Ask the interviewee to review the revised material, allowing them to delete and/ or add additional content. Include interviewees in the post-production process as much as possible, but keep in mind they may feel awkward at first seeing or hearing themselves. They might also have time constraints. Final Cut and Outreach: Following the editing process, prepare a final version of the interview for distribution. Give the interviewee copies of his or her interview.

Blog Examples

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TECHNICAL TIP SHEET FOR VIDEO INTERVIEWS PREPARING FOR AN INTERVIEW »» Always check your equipment beforehand and bring extra batteries and tapes or disks. »» Find a well-lit location without sound distractions (usually natural light is better but outdoors or a busy café is often too noisy). »» Unplug any machines that may vibrate or hum in the background (refrigerators, computers, air conditioners). Shut windows to avoid cars or sirens, turn off cell phones, and disconnect the phone.

SETTING UP AN INTERVIEW »» It is best to use a tripod to record your interview. »» Always wear headphones to check audio levels and make sure you are actually recording sound. »» Use a lavaliere (tie clip) microphone to achieve the best audio. Make sure that the microphone is well placed and will not be disturbed by jewelry or gestures. »» Set the camera at eye level and position the interviewer so that the eye line between interviewee and interviewer is close to the camera. You want your interviewee to be looking close to, but not directly into the camera.

PowerPoint on Composition

»» Remember good composition rules including the rule of thirds, talking space and head space (refer to PowerPoint on Composition). Whenever possible don’t position someone right up against a wall. »» Before recording make sure there are no distracting shadows and that the face is in focus.

CONDUCTING AN INTERVIEW »» Ask open questions that do not require a yes or no response. For example: “Can you tell me about…?” MAPPING MEMORIES

»» Explain to your interviewee how to incorporate your questions into their answers and that this is important for the editing process. For example: Question— How long were you involved with the group? Answer— I was involved with the group for over five years.

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»» Be careful not to ask leading questions like “Wouldn’t you say that the media had a role in the crisis?” It’s better to ask, “What are your thoughts about the role of the media at that time?”

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»» Always keep silent during the interview. Avoid using sounds such as, “Aha” or “I see”. Use a visual response such as a nod or a smile instead. »» Allow spaces between questions and answers. Pauses permit individuals to reflect. »» Ask follow up questions. Use your outline questions as a guide but be open to explore new but relevant topics that your interviewee might introduce. »» Do not be afraid to stop the interview if you are experiencing technical problems or if there is distracting noise in the background. You may only have one chance to film an interview so make sure that everything you need is recorded properly. »» Always ask your interviewee at the end if there is anything else that they would like to say, or that you haven’t addressed. Interview tips were adapted from Witness resources (www.witness.org)

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DEVELOPING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS We shaped our questions around questions that had been created by the Montreal Life Stories Project (www.storytelling.concordia.ca), and adapted them to include the role that music played within the lives of these young musicians. We were also interested in the mentorship role that these musicians had assumed in the lives of the young people they worked with. Below are examples of questions we asked during our interview with Robints: Short Biographical Information: Introduce yourself: name, art form, community involvement, and country of origin. Early Life – Influences/Family:

»» Where did you grow up? »» What was home life like before moving to Montreal? »» What did you want to be when you grew up? »» How did you first come to Montreal? »» What were your first impressions of Montreal? »» What were some of the challenges that you faced when you first arrived? Personal Career:

»» Do you bring your own story and personal experiences into your music? »» Tell us about the first time you bridged your music with community issues »» In what ways did your music change once you began to address social concerns? »» What advice would you give a young person who wishes to do the same? »» How has your community responded to your music? »» What challenges have you faced as an artist? Working with Youth:

»» How did you come to work with youth? MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

»» What do the youth get from the music and arts programming you do? Future Directions:

»» What do you hope to accomplish with your music in the future? »» Would you like to add anything else before we end this interview?

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BLOG EXAMPLE From Mogadishu to Montreal: How music took Empress Deeqa from her family, and how music helped her find them again Gracia Dyer Jalea After not seeing each other for months, I was pleased to bump into Deeqa, a long time acquaintance and notable local reggae singer. During that brief encounter, she mentioned how she had just found her family after having been separated from them for almost 20 years! Deeqa was Somali, and I wondered whether she had been separated from her family during the civil war of the 1990s. Two weeks later, we sat down to talk about her amazing life story, from growing up in the beautiful seaside city of Mogadishu to her harrowing journey as an unaccompanied minor to Canada. Deeqa, who displayed musical talent at a very young age, and who at one time even sang for the President of her country, was invited by her music teacher to go on a musical tour with her fellow choir members. Deeqa left home to go on a trip that she expected would only last a few days. While away, the civil war in Somalia broke out, and she was unable to return home to Mogadishu due to a block in the road. She, her teacher, and her fellow companions were forced to flee by boat to Kenya, where members of Doctors Without Borders received them. After living in a refugee camp for some time, Deeqa was sent to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where she would spend the rest of her adolescent years learning English and successfully completing a degree in education. Since leaving Somalia, Deeqa has tried desperately to make a home for herself in Canada.

Although she has now lived in Canada for most of her life, her heart and soul remain very much connected to her homeland. This connection has been strengthened in the past few months by the extraordinary events that have reconnected her with her family in Mogadishu. Since leaving Somalia in the early 1990s, the whereabouts of her family were unknown to her, until early in 2010, when she received a phone call from her nephew in England, who had seen a video of her singing on YouTube. Through this strange twist of fate, Deeqa explained that: “It was music that took me away from my family, and it was music that helped them find me again.” Music has played an important role in Deeqa’s life. While here in Canada, away from her family, her friends, and her homeland, music gave her hope when she felt defeated. It allowed her to stay positive through periods of loneliness. Through music, she found a way to stay connected to her cultural roots, while also allowing her to make strong friendships here in Canada. Although it is clear that Deeqa has been deeply and emotionally affected by the challenges that she has had to face as a young refugee, she has worked hard to make the most of every opportunity, and continues to hope for a better future for both her and her family. It is her strength and willingness to remain positive that I found truly inspirational. In the coming months, she hopes for the first time to finally return to Africa to see her family, after what has truly been a long journey away from home. Interviewer: Gracia Dyer Jalea Videographer: Liz Miller Wednesday, April 14, 2010

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QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER »» What are the interests and passions of the group you are working with? »» How can the interests of interviewees and participants be incorporated into the content and method for your project? »» What active roles can participants play in each stage of production? »» How can your project contribute to the ongoing goals of your partner organization? »» Who is your ideal audience? For whom are you creating these media products and why?

REFERENCES Blackman, Anna and Tiffany Fairey. The PhotoVoice Manual: a Guide to Designing and Running Participatory Photography Projects. London: PhotoVoice, 2008. Gregory, Sam, Gillian Caldwell, Ronit Avni, Thomas Harding, Witness. Video for Change: A Guide for Advocacy and Activism. London: Pluto Press, 2005. Scully, John. “Media Literacy and Youth Culture Workshop,” presented at the Photo Educator’s Forum, Ryerson University, Toronto, 2 May 2008.

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Change will not happen unless people become aware of their own biases and their potential impact on behavior. It’s by sharing our stories that we’ll get to know each other, see our commonalities, understand each other’s realities, and empathize with one another. Cynthia Beaudry, Youth Network Coordinator, Canadian Council for Refugees.

QUEER IS IN THE EYE OF THE NEWCOMER:

IDENTITY, BELONGING, AND PLACE

BELONGING Have you ever felt that someone had you sized up before they even knew you? That you could not share a part of yourself for fear of being ridiculed, bullied, or even attacked? What are the stereotypes or myths that circulate about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) refugees? LBGTQ youth? How does the media reinforce or counter these myths? Many of us have stories of feeling misunderstood or cast into a role that didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fit. Participatory media projects offer a chance to counter stereotypes by permitting people to express themselves on their own terms.

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QUEER IS IN THE EYE OF THE NEWCOMER: MEDIA WORKSHOPS WITH EXPRESS

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Liz Miller

OVERVIEW Over a two-year period, Mapping Memories collaborated with SOY Express, a Toronto based support group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth with refugee experiences. Our collaborations resulted in two media projects that explored the difficult process of leaving home, as well as the challenges of becoming established in a new place. Our first project, If Only I Knew, involved two weekend workshops that resulted in a series of digital prints that were exhibited nationally. The second project was a collaboration with Express and Janeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Walk Toronto, which resulted in a walking tour and online tour called Queer is in the Eye of the Newcomer. These two projects used personal stories to address stereotypes of youth with refugee experiences and to foster a sense of belonging among the participants.

Express is one of many programs offered by Supporting Our Youth (SOY), a program founded in 1991 to improve the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, and transgender youth in Toronto. Express offers a supportive space for youth between the ages of 16 and 29 who are immigrants, newcomers to Canada, refugees, refugee claimants, and non-status queer and transgender youth. Most of the participants come from countries and/or cultures where itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not safe, legal, or easy to be LGBTQ or transgender so some of them are refugee claimants on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Express provides direct support to these youth in their application process as well as emotional support through weekly drop-in meetings. For more information, see www.soytoronto.org.

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WHAT IS A STEREOTYPE? A stereotype is a commonly held notion of a person or group based on an over simplification of behaviour or appearance. Stereotypes can be positive or negative, but they are often based on assumptions that all members of a group are the same.

EXPRESS There were eight of us around the table. We were listening intently to Aamail Esmer describe his ambivalence about how he had to frame his experience as a queer refugee to the border official, to his lawyer, and to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada: “You have to say everything right to ensure that whomever is reading your Personal Identification Form (PIF) goes, yes this person should get refugee status. Obviously you have to say the truth but you have to put it in a way where you become the victim.’’ Aamail continued, “Besides being gay, I am also Muslim, male, Pakistani, youth, student, son. But no matter who we are, we get labeled into boxes; you’re this, you’re that, you’re what?”

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Samantha Colombon then shared her arrival story and experience in dealing with a Canadian border official, who she identified as a Muslim and who she imagined would have discriminated against her if she had revealed her queer identity and her reasons for coming to Toronto. “In that moment, your life is in someone else’s hands,” Samantha explained, “they want to know everything about you, but you don’t know who they are or what they think about you, and it makes you feel helpless.” While

the group challenged Samantha on her assumption that all Muslims are homophobic, we understood her fear. We discussed the power imbalance in the interaction between a border official and an individual applying for asylum. Members of the group confirmed that harassment by airport officials around sexual orientation or gender identity was common. Samantha repeated, “in that moment, your life is in someone else’s hands.” The youth around the table were active members of Express, a support group for newcomer LGBTQ youth that met on a weekly basis to resolve pressing concerns, such as finding a job, a house, or a lawyer. They returned each week, largely because of friendships and networks the group provided, and because of the safe space that the Coordinator Suhail AbualSameed, had created. What each individual had in common was the experience of being forced to leave their families, homes, and countries as a result of persecution based on sexual orientation.

WORKSHOP GOALS These weekend workshops were the result of a collaboration with Express and Mapping Memories, a participatory media research project for youth with refugee experience. In addition to the five youth participants, the workshop involved Express Coordinator Suhail AbualSameed, documentary maker Martha Stiegman, and myself (Liz Miller), also a documentary maker. Suhail did the recruitment and organized to hold the workshop at Sherbourne Health Centre, Toronto, where Express meets. He wanted the group to be diverse, so he selected new arrivals as well as individuals

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who had been in Toronto for some table and shared excerpts. The time, who could share their hard- exercise had opened up a wealth earned insights with the newcomers. of stories about the conditions that had led to their quick departures and The purpose of our workshop was arduous journeys to Toronto. Difficult to create a safe space for dialogue, decisions, a lack of choice, being reflection, and creative work involv- at a crossroads in life, and family ing a variety of media. We wanted relations were a few of the themes to provide an opportunity for partici- that emerged in our discussions. pants like Aamail to creatively Samantha and another participant reframe their stories on their own remarked that they had not brought terms and not simply as ‘victims’ many objects with them. “When you seeking asylum. We hoped the work come to a new country you can not created would help build understand- really bring a lot of stuff. You really ing within the general public and with decision makers dealing with refugee claimants persecuted because WHAT IS GENDER IDENTITY? of their sexual orientation. Several participants were still in the process Gender Identity is an individual’s subjective sense of applying as refugee claimants, of self as male, female (cis-gender), or trans-identiso being involved in the workshops fied. Sexual orientation refers to emotional, romanstrengthened their cases as ‘proof’ tic, and/or sexual attractions toward men, women, or that they were LGBTQ, which can both sexes. These attractions contribute to an indisometimes be critical in asylum vidual’s personal and social identity. Queer is often cases. At the same time, sharing used as shorthand to refer to gay, lesbian, bisexual, their stories with a wider public led transgender, intersex, and non-normative heteroto important considerations, such as sexual individuals. The term queer often refers to how much of their stories they wantan ambiguity of both sexual orientation and gender ed to share, whether there could identity. The term is a re-appropriation of a put-down there be any negative repercussions, and is used frequently by Express group members to and who might need to hear these describe each other. For more information, visit the stories. Positive Space Initiative at www.positivespaces.ca

WRITING EXERCISES The initial workshop involved still photography and writing. The goal was for each participant to produce a montage with text and photographs for a final exhibit. On the first day, we shared examples of photo-montage, collage, and PhotoVoice (photo with text) projects with the participants. We used a quick-writing exercise to get started, asking the group to write about an object that they had brought with them on their journey to Canada. After writing for fifteen minutes, we gathered around the

have one package and you bring your entire life in it–you have to leave everything and just come with your emotions. You have to move on,” explained Samantha. As participants shared their writing samples and elaborated on their stories, the facilitators and other group members provided feedback on parts of their stories that resonated and could be further explored in moving the project forward.

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Photo Scavenger Hunt Exercise

PHOTOGRAPHY We then led a workshop in basic camera skills and composition followed by a photo scavenger hunt where students had twenty minutes to take ten specific photos. The scavenger hunt was an ideal complement to the intense writing exercises and allowed the group to practice camera techniques introduced in the workshop. At the end of the first day, each participant went home with a camera and the task to take photos that would illustrate the writing they had done at the beginning of the workshop.

intentionally left words scratched out to communicate the messy process of self-representation. Describing the vulnerable process she explained, “You discover that there are some things inside that you don’t want to talk about because you feel ashamed. You don’t know if anyone else will understand it” (Luchs & Miller 2008).

The following day, participants brought in their photos and we reviewed them together as a group. Some students were inspired to do new writing based on their photographs; for others, the photos helped to reinforce and focus the writing process they had begun the day before. We spent the second day drafting, sharing excerpts, and discussing ideas, so that by the end of the first weekend, everyone had the core idea for their montage that would be featured in the final exhibit. The participants had the following week to revise their writing and to take cameras home to further develop their work.

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Samantha spent her week working on “My Cheshire Chest,” a collage that evolved from the object writing exercise. In one image, Samantha depicted herself crouching and vulnerable, with her back to the camera. In another, she was reaching under her bed to retrieve a hidden box of personal treasures. Samantha’s own handwriting is the third visual in this collage, and she

My Cheshire chest, hiding emotions and lies from my life back there, with the cat protecting it. My great parody of the Cheshire Cat.

QUEERING A PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION FORM During the second weekend, we developed an exercise that was inspired by previous discussions about the challenges of seeking asylum as an LGBTQ refugee. Most participants felt misunderstood throughout the application process. The exercise was to transform the standard Personal Identification Form (PIF) that each of the participants had filled out upon entering the country. We asked participants to write up something they wished they could have shared in the PIF, something they felt they could not express during their application process. This could include personal information that was not solicited by their lawyer or immigration officer, such as artistic influences, personal memories, or even conflicting emotions. Samantha wrote about resilience, personal contradictions, and the meaning of her name: “Samantha comes from the ancient language of Christ, Aramaic, which means the one who listens. It’s true I always listen, even if sometimes I don’t want to–it’s my namesake.” Suhail designed a template that resembled the original PIF, to which group members added their text along with a self-portrait. The exercise was a success, and so we decided to incorporate the adapted PIF forms into the final show as a companion piece to the photo-montages. On the last day of the workshop, we provided each participant with a blank 11”x17” sheet of paper on which they could do a layout of their photos and text. Using Photoshop, Suhail created a digital reproduction of each layout and the participants had a chance to make revisions and to consult with him on the final version.

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LAUNCHING THE EXHIBIT IF I ONLY KNEW Once the panels were printed, Suhail installed the finished work at Toronto City Hall on World Refugee Day. The show, entitled If I Only Knew, marked one of the first times that sexual orientation issues were brought into the spotlight at a refugee forum like this one in Toronto. The show was covered by the media and seen by employees of settlement agencies, members of faith-based groups, public officials, and city workers. Erasmo López V., one of the youth

participants who presented at the event, was energized by the positive response: “I had the opportunity to talk about the exhibition and to talk in the City Hall to over 100 people – they could see what is in our hearts and our lives” (Stiegman 2008). Following the City Hall exhibit, the work was installed in the Sherbourne Health Centre, Toronto, for a month, and then traveled to various events sponsored by diverse LGBTQ organizations in Toronto and throughout Canada. The response to the work was enthusiastic, and the youth were awarded the prestigious Youth Line Award for their “unique contributions to fostering community.”

REFLECTIONS The success of the workshop and the If I Only Knew exhibit was largely due to Express Coordinator Suhail’s investment in the project. He was involved in the planning, the production and design, and

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Erasmo López V. presents at Toronto City Hall

If I Only Knew exhibit at UQAM, Montreal

If I Only Knew photo montage by Erasmo L贸pez V.

If I Only Knew photo montage by Aamail Esmer

WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT APPLYING AS A “GAY” REFUGEE CLAIMANT? Providing evidence is one of the most challenging aspects of the application process because members of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada receive little or no sensitivity training in handling LGBTQ refugee claimants. In addition to ‘proving’ that they have been a target of violence, claimants also have to prove their sexual orientation. They are expected to act out stereotypes or behave in a way that can be immediately understood as ‘gay’ by the individual judging the case. For example, experienced immigration lawyers advise clients to ‘dress for the occasion’ as refugee board members have been known to say things like, “But you don’t look gay, how can you prove it?” This suggestion is based on assumptions about how a LGBTQ person might dress or behave and does not take into account cultural differences. Furthermore, providing an official with the outfit or attitude that he or she is expecting is complicated for those individuals who have spent years hiding their gay identity for fear of persecution.

Further anxiety and misunderstanding can be reinforced by cultural and language barriers or by a homophobic lawyer or translator. One very practical bit of advice that Express coordinator Suhail offers to his youth group is to be careful of burning bridges with past lovers, given that claimants are also expected to provide proof of sexual activity through photos or letters that show an intimate relationship with someone of the same sex. While it is problematic to reduce identity politics to sexual practices, it is also humiliating for many individuals, grappling with shame and fear connected to their sexual orientation. The Express group offers an invaluable space for them to share experiences and exchange advice in preparation for their hearings. By providing a final certificate for taking part in the media workshops, we could also offer claimants an additional means of ‘proving’ their gay identity.

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the critical stage of disseminating the finished work (see Chapter 5). The trust established between the participants was an extension of the ongoing intimacy he cultivated with his support group. Suhail was enthusiastic about the process and explained that the smaller size of the Mapping Memories workshops had provided an opportunity for participants to deal with more intimate issues together. The workshop also presented an opportunity for Suhail and his group to temporarily shift gears from direct service work to advocacy. The process and the exhibitions offered the participants a chance to explore how they could frame or re-frame their experiences to the general public. As participant Omar explained, “It was a chance to communicate it differently than I have been doing for the past five years. You go to a conference, you talk about ‘I am a refugee’ – it is the

same story, people have heard it, ‘I am the victim.’ This was different. In this I was saying, ‘this is me, this is how I feel about certain things.’ I don’t have to justify why I feel these things and I am doing it in a more creative way …it’s a poem and you can take whatever you want from it” (Luchs & Miller 2008). Omar’s reflection spoke to a tension that he, Samantha, and the other participants had been facing. They wanted to be able to process difficult experiences and to share their stories with a larger audience, but they also wanted to get beyond the narrative that essentialized them as ‘gay refugees’ or ‘victims.’ In her PIF, Samantha asserted this desire to be understood as a resilient individual by writing, “I know I am strong because I am still here. I have struggled a lot to become what I am.”

In this I was saying, ‘this is me, this is how I feel about certain things.’ I don’t have to justify why I feel these things and I am doing it in a more creative way …it’s a poem and you can take whatever you want from it. Aamail Esmer

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A WALKING TOUR Based on the success of our first project, Mapping Memories and Express were eager to collaborate again and this time to incorporate some of the place-based media methods (like DIY cartography) that we were exploring with other Mapping Memories projects. Express had initiated a new collaboration with Jane’s Walk Toronto, a group that works with volunteers to lead guided walking tours of their neighborhoods. The walking tours are a tribute to and a continuation of the work that urban geographer Jane Jacobs spearheaded to make cities walkable and to ensure citizen involvement in urban planning. Jane’s Walk tours bring people together people who are passionate about their neighborhoods to discuss the culture, history,

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and contemporary politics of neighborhoods and to get involved in local initiatives. Jane’s Walk had 70 walks planned for Toronto during 2009, and for the first time the organization wanted to ensure the involvement of youth as guides. On a Jane’s Walk, a street corner or a café holds as much significance as an official monument or park and the unique aspect of this particular walk would be the group’s perspective on a well-known area, the Church Wellesley Village. This tour would be different from previous ‘gay history tours’ by emphasizing that refugees and people of color have a different experience of the neighborhood.

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PLACE-BASED STORIES “Place, home and ‘roots’ are a fundamental human need and they shape our cultural identity” (Butler 2001, 366). Facilitator Jeb Kilbourn met with four Express participants three times over one month to plan the walking tour they called Queer is in the Eye of the Newcomer. Jeb began by asking questions, including: What are some important meeting spaces in your neighborhood? What spaces are you most proud of? Where do you feel most comfortable? Where do you not feel safe and why? The guides chose five places that were important to them in the neighborhood where Express is located. Each guide developed a story for each of the locations.

Some of the guides made comparisons between this Toronto neighborhood and the places that they came from. For example, one participant discussed the lack of open spaces for gay youth in his home country of Azerbaijan: “Back home we don’t have a gay village or even a gay bar, we just have one LGBTQ organization that I used to volunteer with, but you have to keep it secret” (Miller 2008). The skillful way in which the youth made comparisons between the cultures they had left and the cultures they were encountering were of interest to the audience on the tour, and it was also a means for the group members to reflect on their own relocations.

Images from Queer is in the Eye of the Newcomer walk

QUEER IS IN THE EYE OF THE NEWCOMER

The Sherbourne Health Centre is where the Express group meets each week. Here, the guides introduced themselves and shared their first impressions of Express. The guides contrasted the rather dull appearance of the health centre with the dynamic interactions that take place inside. One guide had everyone laughing as he shared his expectation that a drag queen would be greeting newcomers at the door.

“The Goodbye Corner” is where Express members part each week after the support group. Here, the group shared their personal goodbye stories–the circumstances that had forced them to leave their home countries often without proper goodbyes.

The Food Court is where participants meet after the official support group to discuss personal issues and swap practical advice, such as how to get an additional ID card to avoid being recognized as a refugee. The ID refugees receive upon entry is not the card they want to use to get into a bar. Love, sex, and whether to get involved with other support group members are the most common topics worked out over meals at the Food Court.

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a queer theatre venue that offers an open mic night for new talent. Here visitors on the walking tour were treated to a live singing performance by one of the tour guides. Having sung professionally in his home country, one guide explained how important the theatre had been for him as he struggled to find his way in a new place.

The walking tour ended on Church Street, the centre of one of Torontoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest LGBTQ neighborhoods. Here the guides shared their first impressions of the area, from their favorite bars to candid descriptions of feeling objectification and discrimination as a result of their race or ethnicity. The guides discussed the challenges they had experienced in finding safe meeting places for queer groups in their own countries.

WHO IS JANE JACOBS AND WHAT IS A JANEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S WALK? Jane Jacobs, born in 1916, was a writer and community activist. She is best known for her work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961). Jacobs was born in the United States but after moving to Canada in 1968, she focused most of her projects on Canadian cities. She criticized many urban renewal politics and projects across North America that she felt would disrupt the flow and spirit of neighbourhoods, including the construction of super highways. In addition to writing, she was involved in grassroots organizing against development projects that were out of sync with the needs of neighborhoods. For more information, see www.janeswalk.net

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MAPPING THE WALK ONLINE Mapping Memories helped the guides to create an online version of the walk. The idea was to broaden the reach of the project, motivate others to get involved, and to explore how mapping a story online could contribute to the actual walk. To do this, we filmed the stories the day before the walk and again on the day of the actual tour. Suhail and Jeb had established trust and cohesion within the group, which made our contribution possible. We explored two online platforms to map the Jane’s Walk stories. Our first approach was to connect the video clips to the actual geographic coordinates of the stops on the walk using Google Maps. Our website was created with Drupal, an opensource content management system that permits us to embed Google Maps for each of our projects. We compressed the 25 short video clips

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The Korsakow System is the invention of Florian Thalhofer, a Berlin-based artist and filmmaker, who developed it as a free download with the support and assistance of CINER-G, a Concordia University research group on interactive narrative experimentation. This form of storytelling permits the user or viewer to determine the path of the narrative, based on certain characters or themes such as “dating advice” or “two lives.” So a visitor to the site might decide to follow one person’s story, or to navigate by following a provocative theme. The idea is that while you are watching one clip, icons for other related clips appear on the screen, and from these you select your next step. This type of ‘mapping’ allows for some degree of interactivity and decision-making on the part of the user.

(five stories per site) and uploaded them onto a free online video player, Blip, and embedded these in the maps. By mapping the stops on the walk in this way, web users would have a bird’s-eye view of the locations on the walk and the larger neighbourhood, and they could then visit the stops whenever they liked without necessarily following the same route as the tour.

MAPPING USING THE KORSAKOW SYSTEM Our second approach to mapping was to organize the narratives based on theme and storyteller. We did this using the Korsakow System, a free open-source software application for creating “database narratives.” We organized the short clips, decided on themes, and created our first database narrative. The online Korsakow tutorials and manual helped us through the technical process (korsakow.org).

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VIRTUAL TOURS AND ACTUAL WALKS The virtual walk and the actual walk worked as complementary counterpoints. During the live walk, stories came together as a single narrative and the group dynamic was reinforced. The walk also provided the guides with immediate affirmation from the crowd, which helped them to understand how their stories could touch others and make a difference. Filming the guides the day before the walk offered a chance for the group to rehearse. Just like a theatre performance, the group gained more control over their stories with each take, and rehearsing the stories fostered the necessary confidence in them to allow for spontaneity and interaction. Once recorded, the stories could exist independently of the storytellers, who are freed from the obligation to repeat their stories over and over again.

A PUBLIC LAUNCH Once the stories were mapped, we invited the Toronto youth guides to Montreal to launch the online tour and share the experience at an event organized by Ethnoculture, a group that brings together queer minorities in Montreal (www.ethnoculture. org). This provided an opportunity to re-confirm that we had everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consent about putting the work onto the Internet, and it was an occasion to check in with the participants. We wanted to share the project with youth and queer groups in Montreal in the hopes that it would motivate them to organize their own walks. The event provided a meaningful way to reflect on the experience of

Once I saw myself in the neighborhood talking about my stories and how they relate to being gay in Toronto, I realized I am making myself included in this gay community in Toronto. So having this project was a great way for me to see how I could fit into this new society. Felipe, workshop participant

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both the walk and the mapping project. As participant Gabe explained, “Taking part in this project was amazing. I have never been out and this project brought me out. I am shy, but I realized I could do something with the voice I have inside. I am gay, but I can make a difference. I can help people who are there without support. We want to see if the people of Montreal would like to build from something we are doing. We are trying to see if we can get youth involved” (Stiegman 2009). For Gabe, the experience was an opportunity to come out not simply as a gay man but as a leader, ready to engage and involve others. The video component of the mapping project served as a mirror and provided an opportunity for the participants to further consider their place in the community. Ralph shared his impressions as well, “Once I saw myself in the neighborhood talking about my stories and how they relate to being gay in Toronto, I realized I am making myself included in this gay community in Toronto. So having this project was a great way for me to see how I could fit into this new society” (Stiegman 2009).

PROTECTING IDENTITY

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Translating Queer is in the Eye of the Newcomer to a web project involved challenging negotiations. A significant difference between the two walks was that, since the online walk was not limited to a local audience, there were risks associated with engagement with a larger, unknown, global audience. We discussed the possible negative ramifications before filming, and again before uploading the content online. The video advocacy group, Witness,

emphasizes in their work with human rights activists that if media is circulated, especially via the Internet, then it should be assumed that an oppressor or an opponent would see it. We discussed this with the participants and emphasized that the circulation of media is unpredictable and out of our control. One of the tour guides wanted to be involved, but was worried about exposing his identity on the Internet. Specifically, he did not want his father to see the video and discover his whereabouts; neither did he want his first video representation to be an obscured record of self, since he had already lived with so much secrecy. As a result, we shot the video without using any techniques to hide his identity. Instead, we found a way to protect his identity in the editing room by adding a soft blur to his face, a technique that could be removed at a later date. The experience shed light on the need to pay careful attention to the circumstances of each individual. It also illustrated the tension between a media device that captures a moment in time, and the negotiation of identity, which is always in flux. A year later, this same tour guide was asked to become a Jane’s Walk employee, facilitating a second walk along with a new Express group. His role had evolved from a participant to a facilitator and the video project played a role in helping him to crystallize how his story could inspire others in similar circumstances. The video still has a soft blur effect added, but his role as a mentor and organizer had evolved nonetheless. It was critical that he understood

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his options for disclosing his identity online, so that he could carefully weigh the balance between inspiring others and the need to protect himself. This situation also reinforced my belief that individuals need time to resolve complex issues regarding consent and what it means to take a story public. Making time to sort things out is vital, especially when working with youth.

IMPACT In describing collaborative endeavors, oral historian Michael Frisch advises, “a commitment to sharing authority is a beginning, not a destination. There are no easy answers or formulas and no simple lessons” (Frisch 2003, 111). These challenges are true in both the production and distribution of participatory projects. A motivation for most of the Express participants was to ‘give back.’ They were grateful for the support they had received at Express, and hoped that by sharing their stories, they might help the next newcomers in the difficult process of finding their way in a new place. The participants wanted to use their work to let newcomers know that they were not alone. The group at Express also wanted their stories to reach refugee board members who are dealing with queer refugee claims. They hoped that through the diversity of their stories, these board members could better understand the complexity of proving both sexual orientation as well as the specific circumstance of persecution. As a group we often asked ourselves, “What would a refugee board member need to understand before they make decisions regarding

queer refugee claimants?” This was important because at the time there was no mandatory training on sexual orientation or gender identity for these decision makers. Similarly, it became clear that there was a need for more sensitivity training in the areas of legal aide, health care, and mental health counseling.

AGIR (Action Gay, Lesbienne, Bisexuelle, Trans et Queer pour Immigrants et Réfugiés) is a network of refugees, immigrants, activists, and service providers who offer resources and advocacy for LGBTQ and newcomers in Montreal. Four of the finished films produced in this workshop can be found on the DVD.

Another key impact of the collaboration with Express materialized one year after the SOY workshop. Inspired by the Express project, AGIR, Action for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Immigrants and Refugees, invited Mapping Memories to lead a four-week intensive digital storytelling workshop for 13 individuals from Africa, the Caribbean, and Central/South America. The resulting stories were screened at Image+Nation, Montreal’s LGBTQ film festival, and remain in circulation at events throughout the city. The youth in Toronto had hoped that their stories would inspire others and they did; the work of making their stories public was an important and courageous first step.

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IT’S ALL CONNECTED Cynthia Beaudry, Canadian Council for Refugees Youth Coordinator Refugee and immigrant youth in Canada often face stereotypes, prejudice, misconceptions, and racism, which can lead them to feel isolated, alienated, and hopeless. For example, many newcomer youth feel as though they are being perceived as gang members or criminals because of their clothing style or skin color. Some feel they are seen as job-thieves, burdens on the welfare system, ‘illegal immigrants,’ or ‘queue jumpers’ instead of workers contributing to Canada’s economy. Often they feel they are perceived as stupid or illiterate because of language barriers or they are suspected as ‘terrorists’ because of their religion. LGBTQ newcomers are sometimes assumed to be heterosexual because of the myth that people of color can’t be LGBTQ. We all absorb implicit biases and stereotypes, and these have real impacts on how we perceive others: who we think we can trust, who we think belongs, who we think is normal, and who we think isn’t. But this is just a part of the equation. Myths, stereotypes, misconceptions, prejudices, implicit bias, and racism are not just about misinformation but are also part of larger societal problems. If we want diversity in our society, we have to address racism at the implicit and emotional level in addition to the formal structural and policy level.

If we don’t make a conscious effort to be aware of our implicit biases, they may influence how we interact with others, affecting not only who we choose as our friends, but also who we want as our employees, tenants, roommates, doctors, and politicians. We are all affected by individual and systemic racism, but most importantly, we also have the power to change systems and ourselves. What creates change in people is not necessarily factual information, but interaction with the ‘other.’ It’s by talking to each other that we’ll get to know each other, see our commonalities, understand each other’s realities, and sympathize with one another. We need to create spaces and initiatives for interaction.

LEARN MORE Debunking Myths about Newcomer Youth www.ccrweb.ca/en/debunkingmyths/frontpage

Speak Up! Support Newcomer Youth Voices in Canada www.ccrweb.ca/en/youth/youth-network

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WEEKEND MEDIA WORKSHOP

Tool box: Pens, 11”x17” paper, digital still cameras, laptop, projector, screen, USB keys, card reader. Level of difficulty: Beginner Time: Weekend workshop

WEEKEND ONE: QUICK WRITES AND STILL PHOTOGRAPHY »» Review PhotoVoice projects and photo-montages to introduce the project. »» Explore a shared goal, determine target audience, and review informed consent. »» Explain that each participant will have two 11”x17” panels for a final show. »» Conduct quick-writes lasting fifteen minutes: »» Describe an object you brought with you or left behind. »» If you could write a letter to someone back home, how would you describe your biggest challenge since arriving? Your biggest success? »» Participants share writing excerpts with the group.

PowerPoint on Composition

»» Present PowerPoint on Composition. Introduce cameras, and send participants on a photo scavenger hunt to practice their photography skills. »» Participants take cameras home overnight, then come back and review photos together. »WEEKEND » TWO: LAYOUT »» Participants begin with a writing exercise about what makes them unique. They write something that would not fit in a standard Personal Identification Form (PIF), the form that all refugees must complete in their application process to document their family and employment history. »» Each student takes a self portrait to accompany their PIF re-creation. »» Participants lay out their text and photos onto a blank 11”x17” piece of paper. If they want to use their own handwriting, have them write in black on a white card so it can be scanned digitally.

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»» Revisit consent and offer a space for participants to evaluate the workshop.

WORKSHOP DOCUMENTATION »» Take photographs of each exhibition. Conduct video interviews with participants about their finished work. Have visitors to the exhibition write their impressions.

RELATED ACTIVITIES

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PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT Explore your neighbourhood in a new way. Work in pairs, ideally with someone you do not know very well. Choose five ideas for photographs from a list. If possible, map your journey and mark the location of each ‘discovery’ on the map (you can draw the map yourself or print one from Google Maps). On the reverse side of the map, create a caption for each photo. Don’t be overly concerned about the appearance of the map; it will simply be used as a tool for you to remember and convey elements of your adventure to others. Do not take photographs of people you don’t know, unless they are part of a crowd or street scene.

MAKE YOUR OWN COLLAGE Samantha made a collage from photographs and text as a form of selfexpression. Select your own materials and make a collage about yourself. You can use old photos, new photos you have taken, text, or clips from magazines or newspapers. Lay everything out on a piece of paper and glue it together or create a digital collage using Photoshop. For inspiration, visit www.i-live-here.com or www.sabrinawardharrison.com.

ORGANIZE A NEIGBHOURHOOD WALK »» Set a goal of what you hope to achieve by organizing the walk. »» Come up with stories. Memories, collective or individual, are a good starting point or you can research local stories. Walk around the neighbourhood for inspiration. »» Plan your route by photocopying a map of the neighbourhood. Use the stories, places, and people that you want to talk about as landmarks. Select six to ten stops, keeping the walk under two hours. »» Involve more than one guide and consider integrating a song or creative activity into the walk to liven things up. »» Figure out where your tour will end and limit the tour to one and a half hours so that participants can continue conversations afterwards. »» Rehearse in advance and practice speaking loudly. You might consider renting a small microphone/amplifier unit. »» If there are stairs near your tour stops, use them to help to create an ‘amphitheatre’ style presentation. »» Engage with your audience on the walk. It’s important to balance talking, walking, and conversation. Too much of any one activity can be tiring. For more information on how to lead a walk visit, www.janeswalk.net

Scavenger Hunt Exercise

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CLAIMING SPACES Take an image of a place that represents the highest amount of social power in Canada. You might take an image of a bank, a corporate building, a government building, an academic institution, a hotel, a wealthy home – be creative. Think about and observe the characteristics of the people who live or work there. Next, take an image with you in or around that place. How will you place yourself next to this power? Are you inside or outside? What mood will you evoke? Humour? Anger? Irreverence? We tend to be more conscious of the oppressions or barriers we face or the things we don’t have, rather than how we too are part of power structures. With this in mind, write a caption to go along with that photo that considers what you have in common with someone who lives or works there. To expand this activity, take a photo that represents each form of power:

»» Personal Power – often derived from charisma, self-confidence, selfrespect, networks of support, and individual characteristics that we and others value. »» Institutional/Organizational Power – derived from our position, mandate, resources, longevity, or seniority in a group. »» Collective Power – can be used to organize against institutional and organizational power. Building Collective Power means learning to be an ally. An ally is someone who advocates for and supports members of a community other than their own, reaching across differences to achieve mutual goals. »» Social Power – power derived from aspects of our social identity such as gender, race, class, sexual orientation, etc. Exercise adapted from Canada World Youth Anti-Oppression Training, 2010.

SHARING YOUR STORIES

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Many of the tour guides for the Queer is in the Eye of the Newcomer walk compared meeting spaces in Toronto with meeting places for LGBTQ in their countries of origin. Where do you meet with your friends? Write about where you would look for new friends if you moved to a new neighbourhood, city, or country. Some of the guides talked about how certain places in the neighbourhood were welcoming, but also how other places made them feel uncomfortable. Describe places in your neighbourhood where you feel accepted. What about places where you feel nervous, objectified, or alienated?

WRITING EXERCISES Do a quick-write (ten minutes) about one of the circumstances below that you identify with and one that you don’t. Include details such as where you were, who you were with, what you heard, and what you felt. »» A time you were embarrassed or ashamed of your clothes, your house, or your family when growing up. »» A time you started school where the language spoken was not your mother tongue. »» A time you were ridiculed because of your race, ethnic background, or class background. »» A time you were given less support than others in your family to pursue goals because of your gender identity. »» A time you were hassled by the police because of your race or gender. »» If you rarely see people of your gender, race or ethnicity in positions of power and leadership in government, mainstream social justice movements, and business. »» If you commonly see people of your race or ethnicity on TV or in the movies in roles that you consider degrading. »» A time your opinion was disregarded in the last six months, because of your race or gender. »» A time you were worried about introducing a friend or partner to family or friends because of his or her sexual orientation. Now do a quick write about: »» A time you spoke up to defend the rights of someone who was not from your own racial or ethnic background. »» A time you attended a cultural event that was not of your culture. »» A time you inquired about or listened empathetically to a story of immigration, gender or racial harassment, or homophobia. »» A hero that is not of your own ethnic or racial background. Exercise adapted from Canada World Youth Anti-Oppression Training, 2010.

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QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER »» How will you recruit your participants? »» Do they know each other? And if the group is meeting for the first time, how will you build trust within the group? How will you create a safe space? »» Who is the target audience for the finished work? What do you want them to gain from the work? »» Does your work involve confronting stereotypes? If so, how can you avoid reinforcing stereotypes or sending negative messages in contexts where the myths are not typically heard? »» Are you able to draw connections between stereotypes and larger forms of oppression such as racism, sexism, xenophobia, exclusion, or fear of the other?

REFERENCES Butler, Toby. “Memoryscape: How Audio Walks Can Deepen Our Sense of Place by Integrating Art, Oral History, and Cultural Geography.” Geography Compass 1.3 (2007): 360-372. Canada World Youth. Anti – Oppression Training, 2010. www.cwy-jcm.com Frisch, Michael. “Sharing Authority: Oral History and the Collaborative Process.” Oral History Review 30.1 (2003): 111-112. Luchs, Michele and Liz Miller. Video Interview. Montreal: September, 2008. Miller, Liz. Video Interview. Toronto: May 2008. Rodríguez, Clemencia. Fissures in the Mediascape: An International Study of Citizens’ Media. Cresskill NJ: Hampton Press, 2001. Stiegman, Martha. Video Documentation, Montreal: May 2008. Stiegman, Martha. Video Documentation, Montreal: May 2009.

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Advances in technology have led to both a democratization of cartographic practice and what might be considered a mapping renaissance. In their resource, “Maps for Advocacy,” the Tactical Technology Collective explains how maps help represent links between places, events, and facts, and work to visualize communities. For more information see, www.tacticaltech.org/ mapsforadvocacy

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Successful outreach and distribution are not necessarily determined by how far and wide a project reaches, but rather by who sees it and what they do with it. Liz Miller

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SHARING PARTICIPATORY PROJECTS WITH A WIDER AUDIENCE Liz Miller with Michelle Smith

OVERVIEW The value of participatory media (including photography, video, and digital mapping) often lies in the process of creation and in helping individuals to find their voice, develop new skills, and become storytellers, filmmakers, and photographers in order to reclaim their representation in powerful ways. While the generative possibilities of collaborative creation cannot be underestimated, is just making media enough? Inviting participants of collaborative projects to share their work and experiences with a broader public can be not only individually empowering, but can also contribute to far-reaching social change that influences social opinion and affects entire communities.

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Outreach matters. Spend 10% of time making it and 90% of the time getting it out into the world. Katerina Cizek www.nfb.ca/film/manifesto_animation_bonus_material

GUIDING PRINCIPLES Throughout each of the Mapping Memories projects, the dissemination of the resulting work was an integral part of the process. Each project was unique, and so the outreach depended on the resources available, the shared goals, and the level of involvement of the contributing partner/s. Regardless of the scale of an outreach plan, following through on dissemination involves time, commitment, energy, and ongoing consultation with partners and participants. In fact, exploring outreach or advocacy possibilities requires as much consideration as planning a project. Circulating the works also raises serious questions of control, authorship,

and privacy; and, while social media have demonstrated enormous potential for outreach, they have also introduced a new set of ethical considerations. The stakes can be high for participants who are dealing with circumstances of risk or who are sharing difficult stories with the world for the first time. For this reason, it is essential that community participants help to define the most appropriate ways to distribute their works, which contain valuable personal, cultural, and even spiritual knowledge. The same guiding principles for setting up a participatory project (see Chapter 1) should be applied to distribution and public presentations. It’s also important to remember that these principles will be challenged

SECURITY ONLINE The Internet offers new possibilities and platforms to share your work with a larger audience. It’s also essential to remember that everything you upload becomes in part the property of the platform that you chose. A few ideas to keep in mind, especially if any of the material you are working with is sensitive:

»» Be sure to carefully read the privacy policies or user agreements of the chosen platform. MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

»» Understand privacy options. The Tactical Technology Collective encourages opening more than one account so that you can ‘spy’ on yourself to better understand how you are ‘exposing’ yourself online. To learn more about advocacy tools and security online, see www.tacticaltech.org (Information Activism 2009).

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Work closely with community collaborators, but respect each other’s expertise and independence. Katerina Cizek www.nfb.ca/film/manifesto_animation_bonus_material

by all too familiar limitations, including a lack of time, complicated group dynamics, unrealistic expectations, access to resources, ongoing injustices, and a range of unforeseen considerations. Regardless of the challenges around distribution, the extra effort pays off when participants see the impact of their work on diverse audiences.

COMMUNITY-INITIATED OUTREACH Participatory projects often begin with a teacher or community organizer who wants to provide a new opportunity for the individuals he or she works with and is looking for a means to raise awareness around a particular issue. This was the case with Sylvain Thibault of Project Refuge, who asked us to become a part of an existing workshop series (Chapter 1). Sylvain had a clear idea of how the workshops would support his existing program, and he came to us seeking our media expertise and access to resources. What are the key considerations when embarking on a participatory project that is not communit y-initiated? When a projec t is initiated by a facilitator (or researcher, educator, artist, etc.), it’s important to take time to build relationships and trust within the community group or classroom. For example, when we began our relationship with the Côte-desNeiges youth centre, we came with

a plan but had to be flexible and respond to the interests and needs of the group. Distributing a final project was not a major emphasis of our initial workshop there. Over the three years that we collaborated with the centre, we developed a more organic approach, which also made distribution plans more obvious. For example, the Roots to Rap With music video had immediate outreach potential because it stemmed from a specific request and a shared goal to get the youths’ music to the larger community through a video contest.

SHARED AUTHORITY Setting up reasonable parameters of participation is critical to the success of any outreach or distribution effort. A key element of participatory methodology is the equal participation of community members, in a process oral historian Michael Frisch calls “sharing authority” (2003, 112). Yet, in practical terms, shared authority does not necessarily mean equal roles for all involved. While most facilitators or researchers agree that collaboration is essential, the degree of participation and shared responsibility varies widely from project to project, depending on time, resources, capacities, and technology. Participatory media artists, teachers, and facilitators need to be careful to avoid assumptions of participants’ availability, degree of commitment, or skill sets. These assumptions

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can get in the way of a project’s effectiveness. Many teachers or community organizers who become partners in participatory projects are working passionately, but on a shoestring budget and with limited time. Participants are often juggling studies, jobs, and family responsibilities at the same time. In all of these cases, time is a valuable resource and participants are often thrilled that a media facilitator is able to do the bulk of the post-production work: video editing, packaging, and project outreach. And, while participants may decide to be less involved in the hands-on work, they should maintain a final say in editorial decisions and be consulted regularly throughout this process. Operating within a framework of shared authority involves defining participation parameters based on partners’ experiences, interests, and capacities. Acknowledging that perspectives may diverge and creating moments for negotiation throughout the process are particularly important when it comes to distributing work.

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Shared authority also means respecting expertise. Not every participant wants to learn all aspects of production, but most do want to contribute their own expertise, which can be a lived experience, a deep understanding of the issue(s), or an outreach plan or vision, to name a few examples. The facilitator, as an experienced media educator/ practitioner, brings knowledge and awareness of the potential impact of media and audience expectations. It is this experience that can guide participants through difficult decisions around getting their work to a broader audience. For example,

a media facilitator may help participants move past their initial embarrassment about seeing themselves on film and help participants understand the value of sharing their perspectives with the public. This was the case with the Roots to Rap With project, where a few of the young artists were initially self-conscious, but overcame this feeling when they later had the opportunity to witness the impact of their work on diverse audiences. An additional concern when creating participatory media for public distribution is producing material that people will want to watch. Does this mean taking technically sophisticated photographs? Or shooting videos with a unique perspective? As a participatory media facilitator, it can be tricky to balance the goals of respecting participants’ desire to create their own work and gain production experience with the outreach goals of creating well-framed photographs, steady video shots, or well-recorded audio stories. It would be unrealistic to expect that participants with no background making video, for example, could create and edit polished work entirely on their own. One way to resolve the dilemma of balancing process and final product is to invite a professional to get involved at different points in the project, documenting the process, sharing skills, or preparing the work for final output. For example, in several workshops we invited David Ward, a professional photographer, to document our workshop and share his experience with our groups. For the Going Places project, we invited AnneRenée Hotte and Deborah VanSlet, two media experts, to document

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our bus tour rehearsal and interview participants. The experience offered us a chance to reflect on the tour, and the resulting footage helped us to raise its public profile. With the If Only I Knew project, our collaborating partner, Suhail AbualSameed, had a background in graphic design. Each participant did a layout of their work on paper and Suhail then translated these layouts into a digital format and prepared them for the printer. Getting involved with or involving professionals at the right time helps ensure that a project will reach a larger audience, and it provides participants with the invaluable experience of working alongside a media professional. In all of these circumstances, the role of the professional was to support the vision of the participants but not to overshadow their unique contributions.

SHARED GOALS Coming to an agreement about the shared goals of a project and how it will be disseminated can be a challenging process, particularly when working with participants who have faced prior objectification or negative experiences with media or research projects. The process of figuring out a shared vision takes place not only between facilitator and participants, but often also among the community institutions to which participants belong. An important question to consider is, who is involved in the participatory process and at what stage? For example, sometimes community advocates may become more involved if they have the chance to experience being a part of the

GUIDING PRINCIPLES »» Community-initiated Outreach Community members are involved from the outset in distribution goals. »» Shared Authority Both the participants and the facilitator share an equal say in how the project will unfold, who will see it, and how it will be used. »» Shared Goals Project goals should be discussed at the beginning and throughout the process. Realistic goals help determine the type and scale of dissemination efforts. »» Shared Ownership and Authorship Participants co-own the final product and have shared control over the distribution of both their knowledge and representation. »» Individual vs. Collective Participation and Impact A distribution phase may involve new partners, such as community members, networks, advocates, and service providers.

production. If they simply view final project outputs after the fact, without having witnessed the spirit and excitement generated during the creation, they may be less willing to dedicate time, energy, or resources to outreach work. At the same time, while it may be important to have allies present during the process as a way of extending outreach capacity, it is important to consider the possibility that this might be intimidating for participants and jeopardize participation. For instance, youth may censor themselves when talking about sensitive topics if family members or senior community members are present.

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Another consideration when exploring shared goals is how and when advocacy goals are introduced to a project. For projects like If I Only Knew, where all the members knew each other and were eager to ‘give back,’ it worked well to introduce advocacy at the outset. In other circumstances, such as with Going Places, we addressed personal motivations but did not tackle advocacy goals until trust was established within the group. Creating a safe space and honouring that space was essential to the process, and advocacy came later.

site is shared. These uses may be out of sync with the individual or collective goals of a participatory project.

SHARED OWNERSHIP AND AUTHORSHIP

These copyleft principles provide a helpful roadmap in encouraging new creators to consider what happens to their individual work on ‘free’ hosting sites and elsewhere, and how important it is to read the fine print. It also builds understanding about what participants stand to gain from circulating work in the public domain.

Whether it be stories, photographs, or other material, participants’ work is their intellectual property and they need to decide how they want to share their work with the public beyond the scope of the participa-

Some online video players like Blip (blip.tv) require users to fill out a secondary copyright license, in addition to the license automatically ‘agreed to’ simply by uploading content. This secondary license determines how third parties may use the content. Users can select a Creative Commons License, All Rights Reserved, or choose the Public Domain option, renouncing copyright and contributing work to the public at large.

Copyleft principles provide a helpful roadmap in encouraging new creators to consider what happens to their individual work on ‘free’ hosting sites and elsewhere, and how important it is to read the fine print. Liz Miller

tory project. What many individuals do not realize is that when it comes to the Internet, many of these decisions are made for them simply by uploading their work. While YouTube and other online sites host work for no cost, the fine print indicates that by uploading work to the site, users relinquish some ownership rights over their content. As dissemination sites continue to develop, mergers, acquisitions, and business decisions may impact how the content on the

INDIVIDUAL VS. COLLECTIVE PARTICIPATION AND IMPACT Dissemination of participatory media work does not have to take an all-ornothing approach. Different levels of dissemination can take place at different stages. The negotiation of private and public selves is at the core of many media projects, and participants’ view of themselves visà-vis the outside world often shifts throughout the process of media

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creation. When beginning a project, participants may be reluctant to share work even with the other participants. In this context, it is possible to set up simple systems of privacy. For example, with online projects, setting up individual accounts and passwords can allow participants to share their work gradually with the rest of the group. Helping participants distinguish between process and product is one way to help participants decide what will eventually reach a larger public. In the If I Only Knew workshop, participants shared many intimate details about their lives in workshop sessions, but they had a chance to select what details remained in their final products. The most important step in a participatory process is to ensure that participants have approved a final product. Consent is best practiced as a gradual process, as participants learn the potential of their stories and how media can be integrated into different venues.

CONCLUSION Negotiating distribution for a participatory media project does add a number of concerns to a process already fraught with ethical questions around authorship, individual versus collective needs and objectives, and the navigation of difficult experiences and stories. Yet when developed in collaboration with participants and managed thoughtfully, outreach and distribution opportunities provide truly unique openings for individuals to have a voice and claim a space in venues that may have been previously off-limits. It is often precisely at the distribution phase that participants recognize both their sense of self and their potential to access

power, on a personal as well as collective level. Furthermore, engagement with audiences helps individuals connect their stories to a larger social and political framework. Successful outreach and distribution is not necessarily determined by how far and wide a project reaches, but rather by who sees it and what they do with it. A feasible outreach plan with focused objectives and clear audience targets can help achieve this. If resources and energy permit and the commitment is there, an outreach strategy can always be expanded. And, while social media tools and innovative outreach are exciting, they need to be handled carefully with an eye to the fine print and informed consent of participants, including discussion and awareness of where the works might possibly end up. The results of distribution can represent an important contribution for schools and community groups, as well as for social advocacy campaigns. A just intent is a necessary starting point for a just process, but must be grounded in realistic yet flexible goals and an environment of mutual respect. This involves making time and creating opportunities for reflection, negotiation, and relationship-building, so that participants are fully prepared to step into the public realm. It is in this spirit that transformative processes can become a shared experience for participants, community partners, facilitators, and the audiences they reach.

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WHAT IS CREATIVE COMMONS? »» Creative Commons is a group that promotes a practice of sharing creative work and permitting it to be copied, distributed, edited, and remixed within the boundaries of copyright law. As an alternative to the ‘All Rights Reserved’ clause used by authors, they have developed a set of Creative Commons licenses that allow others to reproduce, adapt, or distribute copies of a creative work within certain limitations set by the author. For more information, see www.creativecommons.org

WHAT IS COPYLEFT? »» Copyleft is a play on the word copyright to describe the practice of using copyright law to make work free to the public (including computer software, music, videos, and photographs). Copyleft licenses use existing copyright laws, but in ways that ensure a work remains freely available. For more information, see www.gnu.org

PUBLIC DOMAIN »» The public domain generally refers to ideas, information, and works that are freely, publicly available and not covered by intellectual property rights.

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ORGANIZING A FILM EVENT OR PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT: ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE Consider who needs to see the work and what you hope they will walk away with. Consider what your audience may already know and what you want them to learn. If the audience is a school group, how will you best reach them? DETERMINE A GOAL Set an attainable goal for your screening: for example, to build awareness, to gather signatures, or to offer a chance for groups to come together. SET A DATE Figure out a date when your target audience is likely to attend. SELECT YOUR PROGRAM Chose a theme for your show and select the films or photographs to include. Determine how curatorial (selection) decisions will be made. SELECT A VENUE Find a suitable location for your audience and your event. How early on do you need to reserve the space? Is there a rental fee? Can you serve food? What audiovisual facilities are available? Can your community partners participate by distributing literature to raise their profile? CONSIDER EXHIBITION DETAILS For a film, find out if the space has a projector and sound system or whether you have to rent such equipment. Can you test the equipment in advance? Will you need an extension cord? How much time is allotted for the screening, including introductory remarks and a question period? For an exhibit, how will the images be mounted? SPREAD THE WORD Write up a press release, contact local radio, and make a poster. Personal invitations are a great way to get people to your event. Begin with an invitation via email or Facebook. Follow up with a personal phone call. Send a text reminder on the day of the event. INVOLVE OTHERS Invite someone from a local group, a teacher, or a local organizer to introduce the event. Invite other groups to set up tables. Invite the press to cover the event. DOCUMENT & MEASURE IMPACT Take pictures or video of your event. If appropriate, develop a feedback form for audiences to fill out. DETERMINE A NEXT STEP Leave your audience with a sense of how they can get more involved.

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QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER »» How will you ensure that participants are involved in outreach? »» Do you have an adequate budget for your distribution plans? »» If you hold a launch or opening event, will all of the work produced be shown or will there be a selection? Who will be in charge of making final decisions about what is shown? Is the selection process clear to the participants? »» Will there be a single event or a tour? Will the participants be at the event(s) to present their work? »» What is most important in selecting the venue(s): location, size, or ability to serve food? »» If there is an exhibition, what are the security issues? »» Does the event date coincide with a date significant to the theme of the event (such as World Refugee Day)? »» How will you measure the impact of the outreach?

Think multi-platform and visit our website to find great links on how to: »» Create a video database, map your work, or make an online slideshow. »» Create a tag cloud, website, webgallery, or online portfolio. »» Publish a book, postcards, or web publish your work.

REFERENCES Frisch, Michael. “Sharing Authority: Oral History and the Collaborative Process.” Oral History Review 30.1 (2003): 111-112. MAPPING MEMORIES 01 02 03 04 05 06

Information Activism. “Online and Mobile Security and Privacy.” Ten Tactics for Turning Information into Action (2009): www.informationactivism.org/en/basic4

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REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS: THE ESSENTIAL GLOSSARY This glossary is meant as a quick reference guide to help prevent negative connotations and discrimination and to learn the differences between a refugee and an immigrant. These terms operate under Canadian applications of law.

Refugee Someone forced to flee from persecution in their home country. Convention Refugee Someone, outside their country of origin, with a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, or membership of a social group or political opinion. Refugee Claimant or Asylum Seeker Someone, having fled their country, who is seeking protection in another country while waiting to obtain Convention status. Resettled Refugee Someone who has fled his/her home country and is temporarily living in a second country before being offered a permanent home in a third country. Stateless Person Someone that no state recognizes as a citizen. It is important to note that not all stateless people are refugees. Protected Person Someone who has been determined to be a Convention Refugee; or a person in need of protection if they were to be deported. Internally Displaced Person Someone who is forced to live their home, but still resides within the border of their home country. Political, Economic, or Environmental Refugee It is important to know that these statuses do not yet actually exist under law. Immigrant Someone who has permanently settled in another country. Permanent Resident Someone who has been granted the right to live permanently in Canada, and may continue on to become a Canadian citizen. Temporary Resident Someone with permission to stay for a limited time (students, etc.). Migrant Someone outside of their country of origin; commonly used to describe those who have temporary status or no status at all in the country where they live. Person without Status Someone who has not been granted permission to stay in the country, or continues to stay after his/her visa has expired. This term can cover people who are in between statuses, such as refugee claimants who are refused refugee status but face danger should they be deported to their country of origin. Illegal Migrant/Illegal Immigrant These are charged terms, rife with stereotypes suggesting that the person is a criminal. These people have entered the country without official documents or authorisation, but international law recognizes that they may have done so for very legitimate reasons, or have been the victims of traffickers.

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PHOTO/VIDEO STILL CREDITS Suhail AbualSameed: 121, 128 Cynthia D’Cruz: 50 (top), 64, 68 Anne-Renée Hotte: 34, 37, 50 (bottom), 51, 54, 58, 59, 62, 63,70, 74, 78, 79, 84, 85, 89, 136, 140, 156 Liz Miller: 17, 29, 30, 31, 67, 91, 92 (bottom), 93, 97, 98 (bottom), 109, 100, 103, 105, 106, 107, 111, 129 (top), 131, 134, 135, 147 Josée Pednault: 64, 65, 69 Quentin Rameau: 31 (top) Martha Stiegman: 7, 132, 133, 136, 137, 149 Deborah VanSlet: 56, 60, 61, 73, 102, 104 David Ward / lab six and a half: 8, 9, 11, 15, 16, 27, 47, 92 (top), 98 (top), 113, 117

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