It is often our individual talents and passions that lead us to story projects. That was the case when a local organization Nova RAFT (Resettle Afghan Families Together) told us about a group of Afghan youth who were using art to express their experiences from evacuation to resettlement. That germinated an idea of hosting an Art Workshop with TSOS DC-Community Liaison, Annie Gedicks, who teaches art at Nova Community College.
Nova RAFT mobilized community volunteers to help furnish apartments for more than 300 Afghan families between 2021-2022. Many of those families were re-homed near the William Ramsey Recreation Center where the Nova RAFT volunteers continue to support the families with English as a Second Language, paperwork, career guidance, tutoring, and youth activities. The rec center is a bright welcoming place filled with hanging flags from many countries.
There Annie led the creative youth, ages 12-18, in art exercises exploring the themes: creating your own language, identity, and belonging. In the first activity, the children utilized an outline of their hands to express feelings or abstract ideas. One young woman used education as a theme for her hand art, explaining that “education makes everything bright and if we are educated, there will be lots of doors that open to us.” There is hope in their faces and a familial feeling in the group. In fact, they affectionately call Dan Altman, the founder of Nova RAFT “Uncle Dan”.
Workshop youth hold their finished art pieces
Another TSOS volunteer, David Merrell, helped lead the youth in a Tunisian Collaborative Art exercise and it was fun to see the children add their own style to the collaborative painting.
Nova RAFT and its sister organization Fresh Start Refugee Assistance Center welcome volunteers and donations to support refugee families in the Alexandria, Virginia area. Consider ways you might get involved.
Nova RAFTTheir Story is Our Story Applauds the Signing of Virginia House Bill 995 and Continues Efforts to Open Doors for Foreign-trained Medical Professionals in Other States
Their Story is Our Story (TSOS), a non-profit organization that collects and shares the experiences of refugees to deepen understanding and influence action, applauds the signing of Virginia House Bill 995 into law by Governor Glenn Youngkin, after its unanimous passage through the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate. It will create a pathway for foreign-trained doctors who have immigrated to the state, including those whose careers were interrupted by forcible displacement, to fill workforce gaps in medically underserved communities.
TSOS Joins Panel Discussion at National Conference to Advocate for Refugee Doctors
Their Story is Our Story (TSOS) was privileged to participate inECDC’s 2023 National Conference, August 23-24, 2023. Addressing the theme “Hope and Resilience,” both local and national leaders and advocates responded to the challenges of the past few years and looked forward to the future of refugee resettlement with a renewed sense of optimism.
Voice Your Support for Afghan Adjustment
The Afghan Adjustment (AA) has been reintroduced in both the House (H.R.4627) and the Senate (S.2327) of the United States by a bipartisan group of legislators. We invite you to join us in honoring our promise to our Afghan allies by urging your representatives to pass the Afghan Adjustment!