"Making it Home" grew from two of the Refugee Survival Trust's aims:
- to raise public awareness of issues affecting refugees and asylum seekers, and
- to help build greater integration and understanding between local Scottish people and those who have come from abroad seeking sanctuary
The project has used poetry and short film to build bridges of shared experience, awareness and emotions between two very diverse groups of women across Scotland: women who are refugees supported by Maryhill Integration Network (Glasgow), and local women from Women Supporting Women in Pilton (Edinburgh).
Women from each of these two groups engaged in a series of parallel poetry discussion workshops during which they explored the same five poems linked by the theme of "Home" and unwrapped personal reactions to the poems and their themes, as coloured by their own life stories and heritage. These workshops were facilitated by professional poets and ran from October to December 2012.
Excitingly, we have been funded by Creative Scotland so that participants will create a total of four short films, based on the rich material gathered during the poetry workshops. Films have been shot and are are currently being edited, under the guidance of professional participatory filmmakers Mediaco-op. Films and poems will be presented to the public in Glasgow and Edinburgh during Refugee Week (17-23 June) 2013.
The Refugee Survival Trust invites you to follow this fascinating project which has already far exceeded initial aims and expectations. The journey so far has been one of learning and discovery, and the films promise to astonish with their intensity, beauty and unexpectedness.
This website will evolve along with the project. We hope you will enjoy what you discover.