Moving Lives workshop
Moving Lives (2005-07) was a digital storytelling project with refugee youth and school children in East Ham, London. Run by PhotoVoice in partnership with Project DOST, it brought together newly-arrived refugees with young people who have lived and grown up in East London all their lives. I co-designed and managed the project that involved 32 young people over 5 workshops and aimed to tackle the social isolation felt by young refugees. Many of the refugee youth participants were separated from their parents and family and had to cope with adjusting and settling into their lives in the UK. Moving Lives supported them to build friendships with each other and local children and learn new skills.
Their stories gave insight into the lives of young refugees living in London but also reflected the concerns and interests of young teenagers around the world: they are about growing up, music, ambitions, hair styles, families, football, education, mobile phones, journeys, UFOs, and creating new lives in the UK. Their digital stories were made into DVD and were screened in the local cinema
Moving Lives documentary by Christel Chaudet
Rizwan's digital story: The kindness of strangers
Moving Lives was funded by the City Parochial Foundation, Lloyds TSB, the Jack Petchey Foundation, Awards for All, and Microsoft Community Learning Awards.