How to Use Visual Storytelling to Amplify Refugee Stories

What Is a Refugee?  

A refugee is someone who has been forced to leave their country and cannot return safely. So how many refugees are there in the world? According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, there are 26.3 million refugees and a total of 80 million people who have been displaced worldwide as of mid-2020. Children make up half of the world’s refugee population. 

Refugees flee their home countries to escape violence, war, economic instability, natural disaster, or persecution. Families face separation and deadly risks when pursuing a life free of conflict. A family could be ripped apart with a son making the journey but siblings not. Refugees typically live in a refugee camp or temporary village upon arrival to their new country but continue to face one issue after another while pursuing true freedom. A refugee camp may have basic healthcare, education, shelter, food, and water, but these camps are often overcrowded and supplies are limited.

Where Do Refugees Come From?

Today, 67% of the refugees come from just five countries: Syrian Arab Republic, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Myanmar. The Syrian refugee crisis has spanned an entire decade, with roughly 5.2 million Syrians as refugees and more than 6.2 million displaced people within Syria, where brutal conflict still persists. While 83% of Syrians have stayed in the Middle East, many make it to Europe and the United States, far from the challenges they faced in their homes.  

Another conflict-ridden region is Venezuela, where ongoing human rights violations and instability have forced citizens to flee. Although the country isn’t technically an active war zone, the daily conditions faced by the average family are treacherous. The number of Venezuelans living outside of the country is nearing the number of those who fled Syria.

Many of the people fleeing Venezuela are families with children, elderly people, and people with disabilities. Siblings can be separated; parents can lose children, and refugee camps are not always safe for everyone. When family members reach their final destinations through often dangerous conditions and with only a few items, they’re met with further instability, few supplies, not much food, and lack of access to crucial resources like medicine.

What Does It Feel Like to be a Refugee?

When these asylum seekers leave their countries, they’re not often met with support, safety, food, or a community. The journey to gain refugee status in a new country is arduous on top of the culture shock, language barriers, and horrific memories many asylum seekers live through. Displaced people face hardships far beyond the decision to uproot their lives, and a number of them face uncertainty in a new land. 

We can’t fathom the plight of the modern refugee, but we can collectively support their journey to self-reliance and prosperity, whether they’re struggling to receive adequate education, health care, or safety. The story of each refugee is unlike the next: From farmers to parents to children and more, thousands upon thousands of refugees have unique stories to share.

Inspiring Refugee Stories

In three films, Home Storytellers shares the stories of refugees who are rebuilding their lives and making an impact on their local communities, the lives of their children, and the futures of their families.

Meet Mario 

After facing gang violence and economic instability, at 17 years old, Mario fled his home country El Salvador for a new life in Mexico. Mario and his mother received legal assistance and support from Asylum Access, which helped him get his first job in his new country. After earning a promotion at his place of work and gaining full refugee status in Mexico, Mario and his mother are working towards bringing his little sister to Mexico from El Salvador to complete the family. 

Mario’s film Hot Dogs on a Tricycle with Home Storytellers raised nearly $130,000 for Asylum Access, an organization that fights for legal empowerment and policy change, supporting thousands of refugees in their search for care and assistance. 

Meet Batool

Batool’s story is featured in the Home Storytellers film No Single Origin, which highlights the importance of human connection and community-driven support, all through the world of coffee.

Batool fled Damascus, Syria, with her parents and landed in the United States. As a young woman and Syrian refugee about to start college, Batool found 1951 Coffee Company, a nonprofit coffee shop that has three locations in the Bay Area of California and offers barista training and employment to refugees. 1951 Coffee Company helps them to start a new life by opening opportunities for work that provide benefits like health care and solid wages, setting them up for long-term success. 

Meet Jacques 

Jacques and his family fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world. The Dzaleka refugee camp is overpopulated with more than 42,000 people, and the average wait for resettlement is a staggering 17 years.

Jacques and his wife live in a refugee camp with their six children. In 2001, former refugee Innocent Magambi founded There Is Hope, an organization that provides vocational training and opportunities for refugee success in camps like Dzaleka. It is here where Jacques has gained the tools for self-reliance in his new country. Jacques’s success and situation are an excellent example of how a bottom-up approach to helping those in refugee camps who have fled civil war, violence, or uncertainty can uplift an entire village. Jacques’s story and journey as a father, husband, refugee, and worker will be featured in Sawdust, a Home Storytellers film with the goal of raising $300,000 for There Is Hope.