Help refugee storytellers to publish their book!
Help refugee storytellers to publish their book!
Help refugee storytellers to publish their book!
Help refugee storytellers to publish their book!
Help refugee storytellers to publish their book!
This campaign is closed
Help refugee storytellers to publish their book!
HELP AN AMAZING AND VALUABLE BOOK COME TO LIFE!
Since 2015 the island of Lesvos in Greece has been a so-called ‘hot-spot’ for the refugee crisis. On a daily basis people arrive on rubber boats from Turkey, in search for a new life. Upon arrival, people are restricted from leaving. Many have been stuck on the island for 1.5 years or even more. Currently 8000 refugees reside on Lesvos.
A large group of incredibly talented and creative refugee storytellers has been working very hard for the past year to create a book. The book is almost finished and it is looking so good that we are really keen on publishing it. The authors are excited. They want their voice to be heard, their messages to be spread. They want other people to know they are not just ‘refugees’ but talented people, with ideas and something to say.
In order to publish the first edition we need your help! All the money we raise will go directly to printing the books. Afterwards, we will distribute the book where we think it's necessary. Any profit made with sales of the book will entirely be donated to Mosaik Support Center, a local solidarity based center that made the creation of this book possible and offers support to refugees and locals in the form of language classes, workshops and special events.
MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT
In January 2017, hundreds of storytellers from around the world started to work together—to challenge, to create and to act. Throughout we used many different ways of telling stories: from music and theatre to poetry and dancing. We made fantastic abstract stories and drawings. We made funny stuff.
We talked and wrote about the things we faced: Police violence, the abhorrent conditions in Moria refugee camp, xenophobia, hopelessness, and feeling lonely. But also about our dreams, our passions and our love. We laughed a lot, talked a lot, and we shouted, a lot, and with a lot of respect for each other. Shouting can be so much fun. We had fun.
Everybody came; people came from 23 different countries. From Kurdistan and Afghanistan to Sierra Leone, Syria, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Baluchistan, to name a few. We had great visitors too: Danish poets, a Serbian illustrator, a photographer from Uruguay, and so many others.
So this is it, we made a book, together. We made a book to spread our love. Our book is a collection of what we are—the things that grasp us, the stories we want to tell. Our stories are serious, they are funny, they are bizarre, and above all, they are real.
But the situation on Lesvos is still terrible. Moria camp is still overcrowded, destitute and inhumane. Winter is at the door, and again, too many people may die senseless deaths. People still sleep outside, in the cold, with barely a blanket to keep them warm. These people are not victims or criminals; they are people with stories like everybody else. Their stories are their resistance.
Telling your story is a way to regain your dignity, to regain your voice, and to be heard by others. We hope this book can be an inspiration to everybody. We hope this book helps everybody to listen more carefully, and speak up when needed. We all need to ask more questions. We all need to challenge the stories we are told and create our own.