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Owning my story

Storytelling as a tool for refugee and migrant self-advocacy

A great challenge in migrant and refugee self-representation is that narratives about migrants and refugees are mainly shaped, framed and shared by media, voices and people that don’t represent the migrant and refugee community or people with lived experience. In order to take ownership over their own stories, refugees and migrants need the means and opportunities to unite, exchange and co-design new pathways to amplify their voices.
The project Owning My story is about enabling a group of migrant and refugee activists from across Europe to reclaim the leadership, ownership and authorship of their own stories and narratives, and amplify their self-advocacy through creative tools such as storytelling.
 
selection of participants

10 applicants from various origins and living in different European countries were selected to take part in this project, based on diversity of background, age, gender, perspectives and migration status etc. The aim is to offer a space for people that do not yet have a platform in which to share their stories.

 

training

 

During a period of 5 months, the participants receive both online and onsite training in story-telling, advocacy and performance, to prepare them for a final storytelling performance in front of policymakers and stakeholders in Amsterdam (NL) and Brussels (BL) in May. During the teaching period, through exchange with the other partakers and by learning from the experienced storytelling trainers, the 10 participants developed a performance in which they delve into an aspect/story of their life they wish to share on stage.

Hear my story, use your vote

The final performances of the project were recorded in order to create a campaign for the European Parliament elections of 2024.

 

By taking the stage and sharing their stories, the storytellers add to the collective narrative of what the journey of migration looks like. The social media campagin invites voters to listen to the different storytellers, in order to enrich enrich their perspective on the diverse realities of migration. And hopefully choose more wisely when casting their vote. 

Are you interested in this project or have questions about it? Please reach out to our Project Lead Marie-José Van Schaik or to our Communication Officer Julz Natri.

This project is taking place from December 2023 to June 2024. It is a collaboration between New Women Connectors (Netherlands) and Pro Lapinlahti (Finland). It is funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union. For this reason, participation is only possible for people residing in an EU country.

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