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Sharing stories builds a community of mutual support
January 8, 2012 — Digital Storytelling, MCRS, Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support, Ontario Trillium Foundation
by Leah Reesor-Keller,
MCRS digital storytelling project coordinator
Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support (MCRS) helps people who have fled to Canada navigate the refugee claim process and find safety in our community. We provide support with the legal process of making a refugee claim, help connect refugee claimants to social services, and advocate for a fair and just system of refugee determination. www.mcrs.ca.
Every day at MCRS we encounter the stories of people from around the world. Stories of loss, but also stories of hope for a life free from fear. Stories of ‘back home’ and stories of a new home. Stories of lasts and firsts. Stories of separation and reunion.
The courageous women and men who come through our office have a lot to teach us about resilience, determination and perseverance. Their stories are pathways that bring us into their experiences, increasing our ability to empathize with people whose life journeys may be very different from our own. Through listening to the stories we are transformed as we step out of our own shoes to see the world in a different way.
Here at MCRS, we’re striving to harness the transformative power of storytelling to break down stereotypes about refugee claimants. With support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation we’ve launched a digital storytelling project to record and share the personal narratives of women and men in our community who have experienced the refugee claim process.
We’re excited to partner with Dwight Storring and the Latitudes and Longitudes Digital Storytelling Project for the upcoming January workshop. By contributing to Latitudes and Longitudes’ library, we hope to highlight the experiences of refugee claimants whose stories are not often heard.
When we share stories we build a community of mutual support, bringing refugee claimants and Canadians together to make Waterloo Region a more caring, welcoming place for all of us.
