0 Go and open the Door by Miriam Halahmy

I have been running workshops with asylum seekers from teens to adults for several years through English Pen who champion literature and human rights. One of the most successful texts I have used is the poem 'Go and Open the Door' by Miroslav Holub,  This poem can help to change lives.

I first used the poem with a group of teenagers in a project based at the Tricycle Theatre. We read the poem and then I literally opened the outside door and said, "What if you opened the door and outside was Africa?"
Ahmad from Kuwait wrote,
Go and open the door..../maybe you will see death and war/ maybe you will see guns, bullets, bombs and terror/ But no matter what, you will see happy, helpful, handsome people/ So go and open the door...
Then he said, "This has been the best day of my life!" His voice had been heard at last.

In this time of uncertainty, after the attacks in France last week and the sense that all our freedoms are under threat, there are voices which we generally don't hear - those of asylum seekers. These are people who have already been through our worst nightmares and are trying to build a new life in a strange country so far from home, where they often feel silenced and misunderstood.
But we can learn so much from them if we are only willing to listen.



I have just completed an 8 week course with asylum seekers at the MRCF in Ladbroke Grove.  The theme of my workshops was 'Writing for Health and Well Being.' My aim was to provide a toolbox to dip into and to experience how writing can help express the whole spectrum of experiences and feelings.  I used simple poetry devices to get started.

I want/ I don't want ( Martha)
I want to start my new life with courage and
passion.
I don't want to be stuck anymore because
life is beautiful.
I want to run and buy what I like.
I don't want to lose time with my life.
I want to go to the sky and see how far it is
I don't want to stop dreaming in the night.

As the weeks progressed the participants began to feel that writing could be a part of the lives as a way of helping to deal with their experiences and how everything had changed for them.

Kanchana wrote, "Writing helps a lot to relax the mind and can express feelings in writing. I hadn't thought of writing like this before."
Florence felt that when she first joined the class she was quite uncertain how writing could help with improving her life. But by the end of the course she was writing longer and longer pieces and declared, "Asking us to answer the question, Who am I? is simple words, a simple question, but it is really very big. Doing this writing for me has been very positive and it has changed everything for me."

Who am I  by Florence 
I am a midwife.nurse
I am not practising.
I am married
I am not a mother.
I am very active
I am not doing anything now.
You can't judge a book by its cover by Florence
I might be short but I am complete,
am black but still human
I can't read and write but I understand
don't judge me by first sight
but after hearing my views.

I brought in a set of objects and the participants chose things to write about. They went on to take photographs in the neighbourhood and wrote texts to go with the pictures. These have now been made into posters and will be exhibited in the local community.  Here is some of the writing and photos I took in the workshop.

Power over my life   by Abrehet

I have the power of reading the bible and following my religion

I have the power to do volunteering.

I shall stay out late by Grace

because I need to see a friend

because both of us need to talk

because I need my status to change

because her advice is so important to me

After these preliminary sessions I felt that the group had come to see how writing could have a role to play in health and well being. The participants were much more relaxed and confident about their writing. Florence began writing at home and bringing in pieces to read out to us. 

POWER OVER MY LIFE by Florence

Power is that inner most energy within you

Over the world. People express different views on this. Some are

Weak and some strong. But we all need

Encouragement  in life to

Respond to.

Other things but that also

Varies although

Every time and again on

Resting and thinking about power and aware that

Money is good but its personal and its

Yours but never

Love money only

Interestingly try to

Fix

Everything that needs fixing.

I decided it was a good time to work on the Holub poem, Go and Open the Door.

This was the poem which lit up the room. "Writing opens doors and gives us whole new possibilities in our lives." Faranak.

After our writing session the group worked with  musicians who took lines from the poems they had written and composed a song which we sang, hummed and quoted for the rest of the course. Here are the opening lines :-

Go and open the door

Why are you calling me?

This is the time for me

Why are you calling me?

Go and open the door

Maybe it's good for you

A surprise, it could change your life.

I loaded the song onto Sound Cloud  - click here to listen.

Our course ended on December 5th 2014 and we finished with a celebration. The participants read out extracts from their work and were presented with certificates by English PEN. We all sang our beautiful song together and despite sadness at having to part company, the participants took away with them a notebook with their writings and a toolbox of ideas.

Because I know what is beautiful and is write and I try more confident myself. Martha

Writing can help in expressing yourself when in distress or in a happy mood. Grace

Miriam reaches our hearts and feelings and because of that I hope we were success in the workshop.

                                                                                                                             Kanchana

If I have some problems writing it can help me and I am very happy with the class. Abrehet

I enjoy everything. Abbas

Writing is very powerful to inspire confidence and self esteem in people who have lost it. Matilde

When I come here I forget about my troubles and my pain. Amina

I am a book. Some chapters are good and some are really terrible. But it is not finished yet. Thuri

I am a scientific person and I never wrote poetry before. Kanchana.

So go and open the door - it could change your life!

Happy writing!!

www. miriamhalahmy.com

Detail: Go and open the Door by Miriam Halahmy

0 "I'm going to raise my voice for peace from now on..." by Miriam Halahmy

Take around seventy students from France, Germany, Spain and Turkey, put them in a room and tell them to speak English, think English, read English and write English about Peace and Tolerance.     What happens?
"Everyone wrote, said and did something about peace, they were creative, honest and nice." Gulsah, 14 years,Turkey.
"I learn sisterhood." Fatma, 16 yrs, Turkey.
 "I enjoyed the teamwork." Sami, 18 yrs, Syria

In October, 2014, I was invited for a second time to the Lycee Maurice Genevoix in Paris  to lead workshops on Peace and Tolerance. The school is part of an EU project and this time the partner schools from Germany, Turkey and Spain were joining us.





All the students were divided into two groups and each group would have a two hour workshop with me.
 How could I make sure that this mix of students with such varied abilities in English, whom I had never met before, had a positive and meaningful experience and gained some insight into working for peace and tolerance?

I need not have worried. The students came prepared to struggle with their English, listen, debate, question, laugh, say things out loud which are really quite difficult to admit to ...."I do not feel I can say that I am proud to be Jewish in France today".... and meet the Other from another country with an open heart and an open mind. It was a privilege to work with them.

I started with a poem by a boy who was an asylum seeker from Bosnia. Unfortunately his name is not known.

Sorry

Désolé

Verzeihung

Sorry, that we are here

Désolé d’être là

                                Verzeiht, dass wir hier sind

That we take your time

De prendre de vôtre temps

Dass wir eure Zeit stehlen

Sorry

Désolé

Verzeihung

Sorry that we breathe your air

Désolé de respirer vôtre air

Das wir eure Luft atmen,

That we walk on your ground

De fouler vôtre sol

Dass wir auf eurem Boden gehen,

That we stand in your view

D’être dans vôtre champ de vision

Dass wir in eurem Blickfeld stehen

Sorry

Désolé

Verzeihung

This the opening of the poem and we had it translated into French, German, Spanish and Turkish. Then students came forward to read the entire poem in all five languages. It was a very moving experience.

After the reading, we discussed the poem and then I asked the students to write a piece showing how they might respond to the boy. Here are examples of their writing :-

Even unhappy stories have to be listened, so raise your voice, tell it to everyone. The only ones to blame are those who refuse to pay attention.   Alex, 17, Spain.

I'm sorry that we look away, feel ashamed if we see you and that we hate ourselves afterwards. For this there is no apologise, for this I can't find any words. Ina, 15, Germany

You said sorry but you're not the only one. I know you suffered and I did too. But we're still here, in this world, maybe as strangers, but as humans. So raise your hands above the waves of sorrow and burn the sadness away. Sami Hazbon, 18, from Syria now living in Paris

I met Sami Hazbon for the first time earlier this year on my first visit to the Lycee. He had only recently arrived with his sister, escaping the war in Homs, Syria.  Sami speaks excellent English. It was lovely to see the progress he is making and how well he is settling into his new life, even though it has been very hard for him.

Sami has read my novel HIDDEN and commented on how he related to this story of asylum seekers.

For this visit I wrote a poem specifically for the students, which I hoped they could access easily and use as a model for writing their own pieces. The poem is called, 'Light a Candle' and there are five stanzas. You can read the full poem on  my website.   Here are the last two stanzas:-

Light a candle

when you are afraid

lonely, angry, sad

without words

and in despair

Light a candle

light another one

light seven billion candles

for Peace

The students then talked in groups before writing their own poems.

Here are some extracts from their writing :-

Light a candle for freedom/ for a free men, for prosperity/ light a candle for humanity/ light a candle for no war in the world/ light a candle to light way of peace. Mustapha, France.

Yes, light a candle/ because bad things only happen in darkness. Pablo, 17. Spain.

Light a candle and you have a way/ light a candle to help. Felix and Paula, Germany.

Light a candle for respect/... light a candle for the animals.   Rima, 15, France.

Peace is a necessary and we light a candle for peace. Thank you Miriam. It is good.  Fatma, 16, Turkey.

Light a candle for all the people who come from Adam and Eve, to understand that we are all brothers and sisters/ Why not light a candle for brotherhood and the peace of humanity?  Ahmet Murat, Teacher, Turkish Team.

On the feedback form at the end of the session, the students give us a sense of what they feel they gained from working together and writing together.

I'm going to raise my voice for peace from now on. Gulsah, 14, Turkey

The project is really great. You must keep doing this. Rima, 16, France

I enjoyed work with a group, communicate our ideas. Mehaddi, 16, France

It is great to talk with people who lives away of France and to listen to what they thought. Deradji, 17, France.

I learn words in English, tolerance and respect. Sedraoui, 15, France

I learn more about the issues in other countries. Pereira, 16, France

It was great to have a real author here and I thought about how I could change something in this world. Good job! Sebastian, 16, Germany

I learnt it is ok if you don't know what you would do in a situation. Elisabeth, Germany

I like when we must speak with our team and the not easy questions. Hannah, 15, Germany.

Be who you are, you are never alone! Sofie, 15, Germany.

I share the same way to think as the writer so I enjoy this a lot. David, 17, Spain

The conference help us to think about people who haven't our opportunities. Pablo, 17, Spain.

Great to have different points of view from different countries about peace. I really enjoyed it. Pablo Costas, 17, Spain.

We are better collaborating than we think. Raquel, 17, Spain

I'd like to thank Miriam for her amazing work and for the chance to be in her workshop again. Sami Hazbon, 18, Syria/ France

The pleasure was all mine. I could write much more about the sessions but I feel that the students words are more valuable.

I also had the chance to meet up with a group of older students I had first worked with on my previous visit. They particularly liked a poem of mine called, Corner Shop. The poem is set in my local shop just as the first Gulf War broke out. Standing in the queue were orthodox Jews, young children, Hindu aunties and the Japanese hairdresser from opposite. Someone said something about the war and there was a silence. Then the Muslim shopkeeper said,"We won't let that come between us."

 "No! Quite right!" everyone agreed.

It was an amazing moment.  To me it felt like peace had just broken out. I went home and wrote the poem.The last stanza reads :-

We are the peace process
the mother, the brother.
We are the news, the ceasefire
pressed like coriander in a wrinkled palm.
We are the voice, the banner,
the handshake, brown on white on olive.
We are the ear, the eye, the promise,
prisoner released, girl unharmed, bomber stilled.

Two of the girls translated this stanza into French and Arabic. We were filmed as we read out the stanza in all three languages.

You are the peace process!  Hania, 16, France.

Continue to do this workshop for peace. Lucas, 17, France.

The debate on HIDDEN was interesting. It make us think more deeply concerning world peace. Like it! Dora, 16, France.

The debate about Muslim and Jewish people was interesting. Thank you to Miriam for coming, she is an interesting woman. Dea, 17, France.

I learnt about the organisation English PEN and to be more open-minded. Keep doing that, it's awesome for you and the pupils. Chloe, 17, France.

I learnt about the very interesting motto of English PEN and Miriam's actions for peace and her meaning of peace.

My poem :-

We are the peace process

The Christians, the Muslims, the Jews,

We are the future, the hope,

We are citizens of a peaceful world.

Maxime, 17, France.

www.miriamhalahmy.com

Detail: "I'm going to raise my voice for peace from now on..." by Miriam Halahmy