It was
wonderful to see different parts of our local community at the University of
Kent intersect and celebrate the contributions and resilience of refugees and
people seeking sanctuary, at a series of events taking place on Wednesday 21
June for Refugee Week.
Opportunities for community
members, staff and students to come together to learn, share experiences, and
expressions of compassion, solidarity and understanding included: a choir
performance, a guided walk, a ‘taste of migration’ through a free shared lunch,
and a lecture in the library. Running parallel to this was a visit from
residents and Friends of Napier Barracks in Folkestone, where migrants and
asylum seekers are detained while their applications for leave to remain are
processed.
Guided walk: Refugee Tales trail
Around 35 people (an
even mixture of staff, students, alumni and members of the wider community)
joined a short guided walk through part of the University of Kent campus,
stopping to listen to the experience of refugees written in the Refugee Tales book along the way.
Before we set off,
Natalia Crisanti (Engagement and Communications Officer), who coordinated the
Refugee Week programme at Kent, introduced the event and a performance from the
Kent Community Choir, who sang ‘Moving' , a song written by students and
refugees at the Berlin School of Popular Arts at SRH Berlin in Germany.
Quotation
Thank you for inviting us to be a part of it – a moving and humbling experience."
Along the route, the
Refugee Tales extracts were read by Philip Pothen (Director of Engagement),
Basma Eldoukhi (PhD student, Migration Studies), and Sam Scott (Philanthropy
Manager).
We finished at the Kent Community Oasis
Garden to reflect and leave a
message, before returning to the start point for a ‘taste of migration’ through
food inspired by the fusions of flavours that have come about because of the
movements of people to the UK.
The guided walk and
the stories shared during the event helped us to think more deeply about the
experiences of refugees and asylum seekers, and the engagement and support
contributed to an atmosphere of compassion and understanding, which we will
remember and continue to speak about and reflect on.
Many attendees of the
event got in touch with their reflections, including:
“I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity
today to meet some people from Iran who have come to the UK and to hear some of
their stories. I think more events of this kind are needed to allow local
residents to meet refugees to build communities, shatter myths and remind
ourselves that we are all human and we should support one another.”
“Having people read exerts of lived
experiences whilst we were walking freely around the beautiful campus made the
experience incredibly moving. At one point a colleague and I had our arms
around each other because we were welling up. This event brought the University
closer to our local community as we shared a valuable experience together. I
had some deep and meaningful chats with members of the public whilst on that
walk, and it felt important that we came to learn and to understand together.”
You can listen to or read the Refugee Tales extracts from the
walk again online on our Refugee Week
webpage. If you would like to
read the lyrics from the choir performance you can download them
as a PDF.
Napier residents and friends receive warm welcome and practical guidance on continuing education
Also on the day, it
was a privilege to welcome 25 residents and friends from the Napier Barracks in
Folkestone, who joined us on campus for these events and to explore their
opportunities for continued education if and when they are granted leave to
remain.
Their
visit included a welcome introduction from Philip Pothen, Director of
Engagement, with refreshments at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre café. We
were delighted that some of the visitors took part in the choir performance
alongside members of the Kent Community Choir, singing in English and Arabic. After
this, the group embarked on a campus tour, finishing in the Kent
Community Oasis Garden to join the participants in the guided trail to leave
messages of reflection.
The atmosphere was joyful and hopeful, as we shared a multi
cultural lunch outside. The group then received information from colleagues with expertise in admissions,
immigration and access to Higher Education, and were also given time to ask
individual questions about how their existing qualifications might be
recognised when applying to continue to study in the UK.
Throughout the day, the conversations between
the Napier residents and friends, staff, students and local community members
helped bring home the importance of Refugee Week in recognising experiences of
migration.
The Napier group were overwhelmingly positive
about the visit, commenting:
“Thank you so much for today’s tour. We
really enjoyed it.”
“It was very helpful for all of us, had a
wonderful campus tour and had the chance to meet very good people.”
“God bless all of you and much appreciate
it.”
“An extremely positive experience: to be
welcomed, respected, and informed.”
“I very much hope that we can do this again.”
Remember that the Refugee Tales
Trail will remain on campus until 31 August – do come back
or suggest it to friends or family, everyone is welcome.
Whether you followed the trail on your own or
as part of a group, we would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment
to provide feedback by completing atwo-minute
feedback survey. The form is anonymous and your responses
will help us to resource and plan future meaningful events for Kent students,
staff and the local community.
If you’d like a response to feedback or to
make a suggestion, please email us at engagement@kent.ac.uk
If you’re sharing photos or videos of your
experience on the Refugee Tales Trail (with permission of all featured), please
use the hashtag #KentRefugeeWeek.
