Creative writing

Celebrating the talents of asylum seekers

Some of the contributors to Correspondences pictured with Stephen Rea and Jessica Traynor.

In January, 2019, award winning Poet Jessica Traynor and actor Stephen Rea (one of the foremost actors of his generation) called for expressions of interest from writers, for inclusion in a once-off anthology. Spurred to action by the plight of asylum seekers living in direct provision, Traynor and Rea wanted to do something concrete to bring this situation into the public eye. Their idea was to pair asylum seeking emerging writers who have experienced or are currently undergoing daily life in direct provision with established writers. Almost a year later, this mentoring undertaking has borne abundant fruit. ‘Correspondences’ was launched during 2019 Dublin Book Festival (November) in Smock Alley. It was a night of celebration, asylum seekers and mentors alike coming together to read their work to an appreciative and very supportive audience. Both Jessica Traynor and Stephen Rea spoke with deep conviction, clearly delighted with the huge turn-out from all corners of the country. years. Batur Nadir (his pen name under which he wrote his piece) came to Ireland from Afghanistan in 2004 and spent over three years in direct provision (Dublin, Carlow, New Ross). He was only ten years old when civil war, a product of the Russian-American war, broke out in Kabul. For four years his life was a ‘’living hell’, filled with constant fear, hunger, no education, and the sounds of war ever present. He saw bloodshed, killing, corpses, ethnic cleansing. He suffered emotional, physical and mental abuses which he carries with him today.

Aged 14, he fled Kabul’s war and drought, took shelter in a refugee camp (built by UNHCR) in Peshawar that had no electricity. Like many refugees, he lived nine to a room in a mud house, roofed with timber and bamboo. He slept on an uneven floor that had jagged plastic rugs. To make pillows, like other refugees, he stuffed cuts of fabric with plastic and paper bags.

36 Senior Times l January - February 2020 l www.seniortimes.ie It was my privilege to mentor an emerging writer who lived in direct provision for three Fleeing political repression, and searching for a better life, Batur embarked on a perilous journey, travelling through many countries, encountering life-threatening situations and imprisonment for trespassing borders illegally. Eventually, he landed in Ireland. However, his application for asylum was refused, but later he was granted permission to remain. After all he had been through prior to Direct Provision, Batur feels guilty to say, in hindsight, that food, accommodation and sleeping conditions were not good.

Batur learnt to speak English while in Ireland, and after permission to stay, he attended I.T Carlow, graduating with BSc (Hons) in Physical Therapy. He specialises in lower back pain. He currently lives in Kilkenny with his Irish wife and daughter, she is eleven years old. He writes about war in Afghanistan from his direct experiences and cross-cultural communications. He is currently writing his memoir and a book on Biomechanical Management of Lower Back Pain. What follows is a short extract from his memoir, published in ‘Correspondences’. Under the title Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, Batur gives a powerful sense

of what it was like for him before fleeing to Ireland. Sometimes we forget the reasons asylum seekers come here, how their lives are so fraught, under threat from violence at any given moment.

The Past is not a Distant Place (Prior to leaving Kabul)

For the past two weeks in Kabul, rival forces pounded each other. Then came a short ceasefire that provided an opportunity for escape. It was a scorching summer’s day. I saw a lot of people fleeing, wounded children being carted in wheelbarrows. People piggybacking their essential belongings such as rags, mattresses, cooking pots.

Children were screaming and the elderly recited verses from the Koran. They all wanted to get out of Kote Sangi. On the way, I saw a lot of dead bodies and corpses that were swollen and smelled of a million dead and rotting rats. Exiting the dusty alleys of our neighbourhood, we entered Kote Sangi Chowk roundabout, where smells of gunpowder were still fresh. Entire blocks of shops and schools were turned into rubble.

I heard heavy firing followed by rocket explosions. I saw men and women falling in the street. I saw a man dropping his disabled grandmother from his back to escape shooting.

We were the lucky ones who made it safely to Kompany area, where we paid a tall, dust-stained, bearded lorry driver to get us to Maidan Shar, Kharote village where we were to stay in my maternal uncle’s house ‘till the war was over in Kabul.

The road was dusty and very bumpy. The faster the car travelled, the more dust and jolting we received. Scorched by the sun and choked with dust, we finally arrived. Scars and wounds from the Soviet war were still visible. Bombed out ruined houses, rusty corpses of Russian tanks were lying in their final graveyards.

(extracted from Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience by Batur Nadir, mentored by Eileen Casey).

Batur Nadir is in a better place now and feels a kinship with Ireland and its people. While recognising that direct provision should be stopped he also appreciates that there are homeless here also and that the Irish government has a duty of care to those people also.

In her foreword to this very welcome publication, Jessica Traynor makes the point that in the 1950s, industrial schools (such as Artane) were in existence. Her father was a child of de Valera’s Ireland, of McQuaid’s Ireland, growing up in a “society which had been indoctrinated by a conjoined church and state into believing that incarceration – of women in Magdalene Laundries, of children in Industrial Schools and Mother and Baby Homes, of people suffering from mental illness in asylums – was for the benefit of society.” Uppermost in her mind was the ethical dilemma posed by a system, direct provision, introduced in 2000 as a supposedly temporary measure. “Almost twenty years later, this canceral system is still in place. As a citizen of the state, how do I explain this? How will I explain my silence to my children?” A solution presented itself when Traynor was invited by Stephen Rea to read some of her poetry at a Field Day’s Right to Have Rights lecture series in 2017-18. Some of her poetry responds to the direct provision system. Following on from this event, the idea for the anthology was born, “through discussion with activists and artists in the field, all of whom gave sage and practical advice.” Also included in this conversation, together with Rea and Traynor, is Professor Billy Hall, a physician who has worked with both children and adults in direct provision centres. ‘Correspondences’ contains an introduction by Bulelani Mfaco, MASI (Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland). This organisation was set up to defend fundamental human rights and to end direct provision. Mfaco has protested since his high school days when he had to march for textbooks and better school infrastructure. Growing up in an Apartheid ghetto, Khayelitsha in Cape Town, he soon realised that he would to protest for access to land, adequate housing, health care and improved policing. He left his native South Africa due to targeted killings of LGBT+ people where he lived, and sought protection in Ireland. Mfaco’s opening paragraph cites “something extraordinary” that had happened, which was a protest organised by asylum seekers in Kinsale who “were fed up with unbearable conditions.” This protest effectively sent a message to the Irish government that asylum seekers “were not going to be quiet anymore”. Mfaco’s introduction goes on to highlight injustices experiences in direct provision centres around the country. These injustices concern the limbo asylum seekers are subjected to, “where days become weeks, weeks become months and months become years, waiting for a letter from the Department of Justice and Equality.” Overcrowding and curfew, lack of nourishing food for nursing mothers, the account of such treatment is a damning indictment of a system which “subjects asylum seekers to petty bureaucratic processes of hotel and B & B managers who have no idea to work with vulnerable people.” The awful reality of suicide, a result of traumatisation is highlighted also. In her forward, Jessica Traynor makes the important point that “we were keen not to simply ghettoise work in an ephemeral anthology that would create short term engagements with artists and writers in direct provision, and short term results.” Longer term outcomes is that MASI will be the beneficiary of the proceeds from sales. Aside from this, there’s the hope “to create empathy and connections and understandings between a misunderstood and sometimes demonised community, made up of diverse people with complex lives, and the people who have the privilege to live in the Irish state without fear, without suspicion and without prejudice.” At the launch of ‘Correspondence’ in Smock Alley, poems read on the night included Up The Hill in Mayo by Owodunni Mustapha, a Nigerian, 34-year old single mum of three. She came to Ireland almost five years ago in the wake of the Boko Haram insurgency which led to loss of lives and properties which the country is yet to recover from. She currently resides at The Old Convent Accommodation Centre in Ballyhaunis. Her poem tells of her struggle to belong in a community far from home: Up The Hill in Mayo by Owodunni Mustapha, mentored by Jane Clarke Safely tucked in my yellow wrapper, strapped to my back is my nine-month-old baby with luggage dragged along and my two little fellas running behind me. We’re in Dublin, the hustle and bustle like Lagos. Dublin buses remind me of BRT buses in Lagos, the magnificent GPO resembles the Cathedral on Marina Street, the long stretch of O’Connell Street reminds me of Oshodi, everyone in a hurry as if they were at Lagos Island Market. I feel at ease but it isn’t home. As we embark on a seemingly endless journey to Mayo, I notice the excitement on the kids’ faces, the thrill in their voices as the bus descends the bridge, their amazement at the train tracks, the smell of the countryside, the sight of cows and sheep, the peace and quiet. The sight of a ginormous building jolts me back to reality –we arrive like a ‘Johnny Just Come’. Up the hill we go. Gates close behind us. Is this ancient building home? Life up the hill is turbulent –tension between neighbours, the anger I feel when the kids refer to the town centre as ‘down the hill’ or ‘down the road’. How do I help the kids feel they belong in the community and not behind the gate? Senior Times l January - February 2020 l www.seniortimes.ie 37

I heave a sigh of relief when I go to Castlebar, the green landscape on Westport road and mountain views, the picturesque surroundings of Westport House and the quintessential reverence of Croagh Patrick, how I bask in the euphoria of Knock shrine!

The journey to asylum seems endless; all you can do is persevere and be hopeful when you live up the hill in Mayo.

As well as containing poetry, memoir, essay and prose of an exceptional standard, ‘Correspondences’ is a very attractive publication visually. Also included are photography and artwork. The publication is available in bookshops and online from The Stinging Fly (info@stingingfly.org). It’s the perfect gift and also, helping others to achieve a better life.

Poem by an asylum seeker

Urgent and vital and with a fantastic array of voices – if you buy no other book This year, buy this one.’ -Kevin Barry, author

‘Since I left home at the age of 17, I’ve been conscious of finding a home and later when I had children the overwhelming need to find a safe place for them. These stories, poems and photography echo this.’ -Mary Coughlan, singer

‘When choice is taken away, life becomes trite. The voices of the writers in Correspondences soar in rebellion.’

Melatu Uchenna Okorie, author

Correspondence is now available at The Gutter Bookshop Dublin, Books Upstairs Dublin, Raven Books Dublin, Museum of Literature Dublin (MoLI), The Tudor Artisan Hub Carrick on Suir, Banner Books Ennistymon, O'Mahoney Books University of Limerick and of course online through the Stinging Fly.

Further Education

New report on further education and training highlights diversity of learners – SOLAS

A new report into further education and training highlights the diversity of learners. ‘FET: Facts and Figures 2018’, a report on the further education and training (FET) sector in Ireland was published recently by SOLAS, the Further Education and Training Authority.

Over 175,000 adults were enrolled in further education and training courses in 2018. The report highlights key findings in relation to the age, education and employment background of the learners. The majority of learners are in the under-25 year-old age group, followed by learners aged 55+.

Other key findings include: - Of the almost 175,000 learners, over 70 per cent completed or partially completed their courses in 2018. - Lifelong learning represented 59 per cent of all learning enrolments, with females making up the majority of enrolments. - Of all learners, the majority (60.2 per cent) were female.

Commenting on the findings, Andrew Brownlee, CEO of SOLAS, said: ‘Further education and training presents an opportunity for people of all ages, including older workers, to upskill and reskill, ensuring their employability as traditional roles change.

‘A key finding from the report is the high percentage of learners who completed their courses in 2018, highlighting the high-quality teaching environments and support given to learners by FET providers.’

38 Senior Times l January - February l www.seniortimes.ie FET trends amongst marginalised groups A number of sub reports were launched as part of FET: Facts and Figures 2018, focusing on the Traveller Community, Roma Community, Lifelong Learners, and Disability. Key findings included: - In 2018, the total number of Traveller enrolments reported in further education and training was 1,212. - Of the Traveller enrolments, 41.2 per cent had primary education or lower, with the majority unemployed. - Adult literacy courses and Youthreach programmes had the highest number of Traveller enrolments. - In 2018, there were 8,644 learners with at least one self-declared disability enrolled in the further education and training programmes. - Of the Roma community, one-third had primary education or lower.

Commenting further, Mr. Brownlee said: ‘Further education and training plays a vital role in supporting individuals, communities, and businesses. One of its key strengths is the role it plays in supporting those who have traditionally been marginalised, or who face additional barriers in accessing education, and the findings in this report highlights the value of FET in communities throughout Ireland.’

The report can be downloaded on: http://www.solas.ie/Pages/SOLAS-Research.aspx.

Note: SOLAS, the Further Education and Training Authority, a statutory agency under the aegis of the Department of Education and Skills, was established in October 2013. Its role and functions are set out in the Further Education and Training Act, 2013. SOLAS is responsible for funding, coordinating and providing strategic direction to the Further Education and Training sector in Ireland. For more information, please visit www.solas.ie.