More than subjects in a photograph or statistics in the population, local refugees’ stories will find the spotlight in an upcoming art show offered by The Virginia Council of Churches Refugee Resettlement Program.
“Stories of Hope,” a collection of photography by four local artists, will run from Feb. 3-26. The exhibit zooms in on area refugees for an intimate look at their daily lives.
Rachel Freed, Lindsey Kolb, Aaron Johnston and Seth Binstead will present their work to the public in Ruby’s Lady Luck, the Clementine basement lounge, on Feb. 3 from 5-7 p.m.
“I was honored that they trusted me with their story and warmly welcomed me into their home,” said Kolb, media specialist at Eastern Mennonite University who worked with a Cuban family. She said the family surprised her with their openness.
Freed, a staff member at A Bowl of Good, is participating in the show for the second year. Last year, she photographed an Iraqi family; this year, Eritrean. She spent a few hours each week for two to three months simply getting to know the family, first building a rapport of comfort and trust before lifting a lens.
The families’ hospitality struck both Freed and Kolb. Freed said she and the Eritrean family sipped espresso as neighbors and friends stopped by to enjoy each other’s company. “It was a sense of community we really lack here [in the U.S.] It was so beautiful to experience that,” Freed said.
“The father let me know that I was always welcome in their home,” said Kolb. “For this, I am grateful.”
Meet the neighbors
According to Virginia State Director Viktor Sokolyuk, events that bring the wider community together help the program reach new volunteers and make broad connections. “Stories of Hope” and similar projects “tell our neighbors who we are and what we’re doing here,” he said.
Tucked into a nondescript building a few blocks east of downtown, the program’s local office currently serves about 300 cases in the 50-mile radius around Harrisonburg, and receives six to 10 new cases monthly. There are an estimated 5,000-7,000 refugees in the area.
Since the program is not government-run — Sokolyuk calls it a public-private partnership — they reach out to churches and volunteer community groups to get involved with successfully resettling families. “So, this way, people will not end up on the public dollar, on welfare,” said Sokolyuk. “They will have community support: people who will help them with the adjustment and enculturation, and blending into the community.”
The Resettlement Program provides housing, jobs, education and health care resources for families when they arrive. They work with them for up to five years, when an individual can then apply for U.S. citizenship.
“What I see is that they’re very resilient people,” said Jim Hershberger, Harrisonburg program coordinator.
“Many of our clients are now successful business people, restaurant owners, mechanics, own construction businesses,” said Sokolyuk. He recalls helping children get their immunizations and watching them grow up; “Now some of them are lawyers, teachers, engineers... and they live and work in this area,” he said.
Everybody’s different
Several of the “Stories of Hope” artists were unfamiliar with the refugee experience before seeing them through a lens. When Development Coordinator Jackie Cramer asked Freed to participate in last year’s art show, the photographer said she stepped into the project without any prior knowledge of a displaced family’s life.
Kolb taught English as a Second Language classes at Skyline Literacy and is working on a degree in ESL education. She said photographing for the show “really opened [her] eyes to ... the challenges that many of [the refugees] face.”
Although there are varying types and cases, a refugee is someone with “credible fear of persecution” in their home country, said Hershberger. Before settling in a new country, the United Nations puts refugees through a rigorous screening process, he said.
In Harrisonburg, the program most often sees Iraqi and Eritrean families, but they come from all parts of the world: from Cuba and Columbia to Kazakhstan. “We treat everybody the same, except everybody’s different,” said Hershberger.
Body goes, mind follows
Some arrive in the states with as much luggage as an average family might take weekending; others have even less, bearing only the clothes on their backs and flip-flops in winter. The program addresses immediate needs first, and then moves to long-term solutions.
“We’re trying to get them to work as soon as possible,” Sokolyuk said. “I came through the same program, and that’s the way to help people become self-sufficient right away.”
Originally a refugee himself, Sokolyuk — a native Ukrainian — understands the perceptions and misconceptions placed on displaced people. “They hear me speaking with an accent ... but not everyone with an accent crossed the border illegally,” he said. “Unfortunately that’s the perceptions people have sometimes.”
Immigrants and refugees are in very different situations, Sokolyuk noted: “Immigrants, their mind goes first, and body follows ... refugees, body goes first, and mind follows.” Unable to plan or control their destinations, refugees are placed where help and safety can be most readily found — whether that’s in the United States or one of 12 other countries that offer asylum.
But their worldly possessions don’t indicate what they might carry in experience. “Many of them are well educated. Some have doctorate degrees or are professionals, and once they come here, they might be working at a poultry plant,” said Sokolyuk.
“But it’s not important where I end up working.” He paused. “What’s important is that I have a safe haven for my children.”
And a safe haven includes a welcoming community.
“I really hope that, with this project in general, people walk away with more of an understanding about the families; [I hope] that it would help break stereotypes or prejudice,” said Freed.
“These families are just like everyone else.”
For more information, visit harrisonburgrefugees.com.
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