Refugees Water and Cha talk about their first year in an American high school. Water’s father describes his first year trying to sustain his family and find a job. This student-produced video was created as part of the American Graduate project, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Stories Produced by Nashville Immigrants and Refugees
Posts Tagged ‘refugees’
Preparing Nepali Food in Nashville
This video takes us through the process that Bhutanese-Nepali refugees have to go through in order to buy and prepare their cultural food–including numerous different stops at specialty markets in Nashville. Shared by Prakash Subedi as part of NPT’s Storytellers project.
Hopes for TN in 2012
Youth discuss what kind of community they want Tennessee to be in 2012, with particular focus to its treatment towards immigrants and refugees.
NOOR International Market
Noor International Market Owned by Iraqi refugees, it is located in 540 Paragon Mills Rd, Nashville TN 37211.
Refugee Christmas Party
Refugee Christmas Party 2010 hosted by Refugee Services, Catholic Charities of Tennessee in Lowes Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN. Refugees from Bhutan, Burma, Iraq, Cuba, Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea gather together for the party where they refresh with food, fun, entertainment activities such as dance, songs, arts and so on.
Young Refugees’ Thoughts on Education
Interview with young refugees from Africa, and they were telling the difference between educational system in Africa and USA.
Storytellers: Videos Produced by High School Students for American Graduate Project
For several months now, we have been involved in the exciting nationwide project American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen. A few weeks ago, we aired Translating the Dream, a documentary that looks at the unique challenges of immigrant and refugee students in Nashville schools. But as we have learned with the Storytellers project, there is great value in having the community create their own stories, in their own voice.
So, we have been collecting stories from high school students to get their firsthand perspectives on the issues that matter to them most. We want them to answer questions like, what motivates students to stay in school? What factors contribute to the decision to drop out of high school? What are the day-to-day struggles you face- including those dealing with academic hardship, bullying, lack of motivation? And for our immigrant and refugee storytellers: what are your unique struggles, and what is keeping you in (or distancing you from) school?
In the video below, Kenyan refugee Frahia, who is in 9th grade, talks about being bullied in school when she first came to America and didn’t know any English, and how falling in love with reading kept her in school.
And you can view all of the student-produced stories we’ve gotten so far in the playlist below.
Storytellers: Inside a Hindu Naming Ceremony in Nashville
Many cultures and religious traditions have rituals around the birth of a child. For many families who have settled in a new land, preserving these rituals is of utmost importance, even if only in the privacy of their own home.
In this video, storytellers Kamal Bastola and Prakash Subedi give us an intimate look at a Bhutanese family conducting a naming ceremony for a recent newborn baby, a traditional ceremony in Hindu custom.
(Storytellers) The Forgotten Legacy: Kurdish Handicraft Weaving
This thoughtful piece by storyteller Kasar Abdulla introduces us to the Kurdish art of weaving. From socks and purses to hats and rugs, Kurdish women take pride in preserving the tradition of making intricate crafts with their own hands. Abdulla delves deep into the significance of the practice in difficult times, explaining that the women “relied on their weaving talents in refugee camps; they would turn something as simple as a potato sack into new purses and exchange it for food with the Turks.” A must-see story.
(Storytellers) Women, War and Peace: A Rwandan Romeo and Juliet Story
As part of our Women, War and Peace project, some of our female storytellers are telling the war stories of women in Nashville. In this moving video produced by Hannah Mendez, meet Betty Kayitesi, a Rwandan refugee whose life took a very unexpected turn when she married someone from the “other side”.