major challenges & successes
I did not play a significant teaching or planning role with the PPR refugee art class and did not experience any major challenges, only a few minor ones. One chronic challenge my co-teachers and I faced as facilitators of the group was low and inconsistent attendance of participants. This may have been due to many factors: changing work schedule of the attendees (e.g. one man was employed at Wal-Mart and his work schedule changed each week, limiting his ability to make our group), possible miscommunications between the refugees and their case workers who informed them about class locations and times (Nationalities Service Center’s location by 14th and Arch Street was under construction for renovations after our first two classes, so we moved to a bland, temporary space at 12th and Arch Street, also our bi-weekly schedule was not entirely consistent), among other unknown reasons. Despite the challenges of location and schedule changes, we had a few refugee participants that came often enough to form relationships with others in the group, including the teachers.
Throughout the course of the class, language and communicating with the refugee participants presented challenges. Fortunately, some of the participants had moderate to fairly good English skills and were able to explain the stories and illustrations they created during class. Usually at least one refugee participant was able to translate activity instructions to other classmates, and also graciously translated from Arabic (most often) to English so the teaching artists could understand what was being communicated. Despite the language barrier, we were able to convey activity prompts and share meaningful moments with each other.
During the final class, the five refugee participants presented their books to our group, taking care to explain some of the symbols, found imagery, and drawings that conveyed chapters in their “life story.” They spoke eloquently and emotionally – it was a very special time. My co-teacher and I took turns speaking blessings to the group. Following the last class, we shared a meal at the site, and then journeyed via foot and bus to Koresh Dance Company where we watched an hour-long showcase of local Philadelphia dancers. This acculturation event was intended to celebrate the conclusion of the bi-weekly classes and to introduce the refugees to new and fun cultural experiences in the city. From what I could tell, everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, one of the most active members of our class, Roman, a 27 year old refugee from Afghanistan, was so inspired by the performances he wanted to enroll in dance classes there. The excitement of Roman, and the smiles on the faces of Abbas, his wife Iqbal, Saliha, and Ayad during the last class and celebration event made me feel as though the class was a success.
The elders book project never lacked weekly challenges! I think many of the problems I faced would not have been issues had I been involved in this mural project myself. I came into the project with no prior knowledge of the Bhutanese refugee population, did not work hands-on in the class with the participants, and missed out on being involved in the process of project planning. I lacked the opportunity to take part in the lengthy process of creating the mural and make critical observations and notes along the way. Missing the art-making experience with the refugees and launching into a collaborative project that was already in progress and presented more questions than answers was problematic.
Prompt and clear communication with the teaching artists presented issues for me because I asked more questions than I received answers. I had to frequently contact them for clarification on details such as identifying people in pictures, clearing up confusion about the timeline of the mural creation, identifying the actual steps of the mural making process, when and where they occurred, and asking them to complete their writing portions so I could edit them and start the task of laying out and designing the final draft. Another huge hurdle that added a lot of work for me was obtaining references for the many facts, statistics, historical data, and research studies that were referenced. The teaching artists did not cite their sources when they originally wrote their texts and most did not pass along the resources they used.
Another challenge I faced was more technical than dealing with the contents of the book. Having never published a book before, I had to educate myself on many aspects of creating a book including layout, design, registering for an ISBN, e-books and online book selling, finding the best design program, formatting and printing the book, and other important steps. I also had to teach myself how to navigate design tasks in an unfamiliar program, on an unfamiliar Mac operating system.
Throughout the course of the class, language and communicating with the refugee participants presented challenges. Fortunately, some of the participants had moderate to fairly good English skills and were able to explain the stories and illustrations they created during class. Usually at least one refugee participant was able to translate activity instructions to other classmates, and also graciously translated from Arabic (most often) to English so the teaching artists could understand what was being communicated. Despite the language barrier, we were able to convey activity prompts and share meaningful moments with each other.
During the final class, the five refugee participants presented their books to our group, taking care to explain some of the symbols, found imagery, and drawings that conveyed chapters in their “life story.” They spoke eloquently and emotionally – it was a very special time. My co-teacher and I took turns speaking blessings to the group. Following the last class, we shared a meal at the site, and then journeyed via foot and bus to Koresh Dance Company where we watched an hour-long showcase of local Philadelphia dancers. This acculturation event was intended to celebrate the conclusion of the bi-weekly classes and to introduce the refugees to new and fun cultural experiences in the city. From what I could tell, everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, one of the most active members of our class, Roman, a 27 year old refugee from Afghanistan, was so inspired by the performances he wanted to enroll in dance classes there. The excitement of Roman, and the smiles on the faces of Abbas, his wife Iqbal, Saliha, and Ayad during the last class and celebration event made me feel as though the class was a success.
The elders book project never lacked weekly challenges! I think many of the problems I faced would not have been issues had I been involved in this mural project myself. I came into the project with no prior knowledge of the Bhutanese refugee population, did not work hands-on in the class with the participants, and missed out on being involved in the process of project planning. I lacked the opportunity to take part in the lengthy process of creating the mural and make critical observations and notes along the way. Missing the art-making experience with the refugees and launching into a collaborative project that was already in progress and presented more questions than answers was problematic.
Prompt and clear communication with the teaching artists presented issues for me because I asked more questions than I received answers. I had to frequently contact them for clarification on details such as identifying people in pictures, clearing up confusion about the timeline of the mural creation, identifying the actual steps of the mural making process, when and where they occurred, and asking them to complete their writing portions so I could edit them and start the task of laying out and designing the final draft. Another huge hurdle that added a lot of work for me was obtaining references for the many facts, statistics, historical data, and research studies that were referenced. The teaching artists did not cite their sources when they originally wrote their texts and most did not pass along the resources they used.
Another challenge I faced was more technical than dealing with the contents of the book. Having never published a book before, I had to educate myself on many aspects of creating a book including layout, design, registering for an ISBN, e-books and online book selling, finding the best design program, formatting and printing the book, and other important steps. I also had to teach myself how to navigate design tasks in an unfamiliar program, on an unfamiliar Mac operating system.