Storytelling As Resistance:Drawings And Stories From Lesvos And Elsewhere

Storytelling As Resistance: Drawings And Stories From Lesvos And Elsewhere

This book is the outcome of a project entitled ‘Storytelling as Resistance’. It is the result of nearly a year of storytelling at Mosaik Support Center.

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AdamaAbed AlrahmanAhmadAhmedAhnadkremAhtshamAliAliceAngelAqeelArifAmiAmirAntonioAugustineAziziBashirBelvieBetelehmBunduCaseyChiemChristinaCindyEbrahimEganElvisEmiEsmaeelEstherFalahFaresFrederickGazeHalwestHelenHoomanHossinIrfanJahangirJeanetteKamelaKatharina

KarimKennethKhalefKimberlyKostasKosratKing SolomonLaraLaouratou LauraLeonLeonieLidyaMahirMariaMarianaMarionMasudMattMeseretMireilleMohamadMohamedMohammadMohammad NasimMohammedMohammed HassanMortaza AliMouhamadMouhamedMouhammadMouhammedMuhamadMuhamedMuhammadMuhammedMuhammetMujahidMujahid NajmeMumtazNabihNadiaNajeeb llahew

NasibaNavidNayankaNikosNizamiNursenPatehRashaRiccardoRitaRizwanRosine OliveRupertRumbirSaraSarahSardarSayed AjmaalSayed JamaluddinSayed SamiullahSayed RafinllahSayed Shahal Ali AzgharSaqibSefaudin AbdellaSemereShamillaShahrbandoShareenSimonSouzy StratosSunailThanosTsegaUrsuleVictorVito VonneZahraZissisZoe

About this book

S torytelling is resistance. By telling stories we challenge the world around us, and we create an alternative to the dominant narratives sold to us everyday.

That narrative tells us that refugees have two main identities: They are either victims or a danger to society.

In January 2017, over a hundred storytellers from around the world started to work together—to challenge, to create and to act. Throughout we used many different ways of telling stories: from music and theatre to poetry and dancing. We made fantastic abstract stories and drawings. We made funny stuff.

We talked and wrote about the things we faced: Police violence, the abhorrent conditions in Moria refugee camp, xenophobia, hopelessness, and feeling lonely. But also about our dreams, our passions and our love. We laughed a lot, talked a lot, and we shouted, a lot, and with a lot of respect for each other. Shouting can be so much fun. We had fun.

Everybody came; people came from 23 different countries. From Kurdistan and Afghanistan to Sierra Leone, Syria, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Baluchistan, to name a few. We had great visitors too: Danish poets, a Serbian illustrator, a photographer from Uruguay, and so many others.

So this is it, we made a book, together. We made a book to spread our love. Our book is a collection of what we are—the things that grasp us, the stories we want to tell. Our stories are serious, they are funny, they are bizarre, and above all, they are real.

But the situation on Lesvos is still terrible. Moria camp is still overcrowded, destitute and inhumane. Winter is at the door, and again, too many people may die senseless deaths. People still sleep outside, in the cold, with barely a blanket to keep them warm. These people are not victims or criminals; they are people with stories like everybody else. Their stories are their resistance.

Telling your story is a way to regain your dignity, to regain your voice, and to be heard by others. We hope this book can be an inspiration to everybody. We hope this book helps you to listen more carefully, and speak up when you need to. Ask more questions. Challenge the stories you are told and create your own.Enjoy.

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Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a monster. This was no ordinary monster, but a monster that ate people’s questions before they could even think them in their head…So everyone in the town could never ask ques-tions and only had answers. So they fought all the time and didn’t know how to listen. And every time anybody said anything, no matter how ridiculous, no matter how big of a lie, the people believed it was true.The monster grew fat from the questions on the hill and it would have stayed like this for-ever until a stranger arrived in town.

The stranger was a wizard full of magic. Her magic came from her listening to the true sto-ries of everything she met. But her real magic was in her long silver hair that grew to the ground. She listened so much to the answers of each person in town that the monster didn’t eat her questions because she had no questions because she knew everything and was the smartest per-son in the whole world. Her eyes snapped open abruptly: she had been sleeping and the monster had sent her dreams that she knew everything and had no questions.

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ASHLIYORI

Once upon a time on the island of Lesvos, out of a hot spring crawled a creature that looked very nearly human, except it was very exceptionally strong, very fast and incredibly intelligent. And it had orange eyes, and long long hair. This creature immediately started battling with the king of Lesvos. It did not know who it was or where it was from, but decided to name itself Ashliyori. Ashliyori only knew that there was terrible suffering all around and the kings and warriors were killing and enslaving all those around. Ashliyori killed the king of Lesvos, so the kings of Europe got together and called forth their strongest most talented wizards to battle the creature. The creature nearly prevailed but then it was surrounded by the wards and turned into a small block of stone. A fence was put up to keep the sun, rain and wind from freeing the creature trapped in the stone who had been watching everything that had happened for 2000 years. It had a plan to kill all the kings but although everyone forgot the creature existed the fence remained. It called to every person who passed: “Break down the fence, free me!”. But people were not very inclined to break down fences or hear strange voices in their heads so they always hurried away. Until one day a woman full of rage and despair walked by...

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Once there was a man who could only eat money.He hadn’t too much money to eat so…He was very hungry. He asked everyone he met for money to eat, but they all told him no you can’t eat my money, only I will eat my own money.He tried to eat vegetables and meat but they were hard to digest and he got stomach aches all the time.Then he tried to grow up some money to eat but he didn’t know where to find baby moneys or money seeds.

And he slowly starved away until he could barely think, and barely walk and felt dizzy all the time. And the boy panicked for he did not want to die. So he did the worst, he found a girl yet weaker and dizzier than himself, stole the last of her money and ate it in one gulp. He felt so strong and powerful that he was strong enough to take money from all the weak people he met and he never went hungry again.

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GLOSSARY

Ali Baba: ThiefDRC: Danish Refugee CouncilEASO: European Asylum Support OfficeEU-Turkey deal: Controversial deal allowing the EU to ship refugees back to Turkey Eurorelief: Greek missionary NGO active in Moria campFrontex: European border control

Malaka: Asshole MDM: Medicine Du MondeMoria: Official refugee camp Mytilini: Capital of Lesvos ODD: Office of Displaced Designers Section B: Prison inside Moria camp UNHCR: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Page 4-5: Moria is the camp which is close to Mytilini. There are around 5000 refugees in this camp and there is no more place, the rea-son is the procedure of EASO is too long that’s why the people becom-ing too many and they gonna crazy. And I am afraid about this situation. Most of people get money from UN and drink, fight together beat with pipe, and young children, old men, sick people run away from the camp. They don’t care about them.

Page 7: Feeling lonely! Since I left my family, country and all my loved ones, I’m here, feeling lonely, very lonely. I have no good friends to share my feeling with, no one is trustable, everybody lies in this world. There are explosions, sui-cides, attacks, corruptions, abuse of powers, insecurity, I feel no safe-ty in this cruel world. Even dying is not a solution, I feel lonely. God save me!

Page 8: I saw a guy in a river / I asked him what are you doing / he told me I have a fever / I told him you can eat from my apple maybe this can make you better / he said I don’t need an apple / I need to find a shelter / I told him come to me you can make one from me.

Page 9: The world I used to have fell apart so I went in search of a new world. A world free of chaos, a world without fears of watching over your head. On this great jour-ney I say to my fears get behind me cause am taking charge, so I sat on chair holding my head saying to myself which way to go. And I look up to heaven for inspiration then I got a motivation, because I had a vision and I say to the voice in my head this is my mission. From that day I say to myself no matter what it takes I will possess my posses-sions. So I went on with caution.

Page 10: Moria refugee – UNHCR – MDM down – Hospital – MDM up – DRC. This is the refugee of Moria Camp. Just he remains in the circle until he die.

Page 16: At first there was no moun-tain, the mountain in my world, then a big storm fell on the earth from the sky / Things changed / That big storm made the mountains and the hills to come into existence / They rose higher and higher / Then the high mountain was the biggest, proudly he told all the other moun-tains: I’m higher than any of you, I can touch the sky / The mountain was moving, it was growing higher and higher / The high mountain did not know that it can only reach the point from where nothing can get higher / One day it rained / And a small river started flowing on the big mountain / The river started tearing down the mountain slowly slowly / The high mountain started crying / Why are you doing this to me? It asked the small river / The world is not loyal to anyone, the small river said / Everyone is going to die once / And your arrogance is destroying you / Being high or great doesn’t have any importance / The small movements of the water can make you smaller.

Page 18: I don’t feel alone too much here because we have many alone people we can remove alone feel together. I was in jail for free. I’m in love but my love is very dif-ferent but still I love her because she lives in deep place of my heart. I miss everybody who I knew him and I left him or they left me. Fight destroyed every beautiful things. I lost many people and especially my mom and my grandmother and my cousin. I feel little bit scared not too much. But I never get tired.

Page 21: Freedom in Kurdish

Page 24: Moria, the place you want to know and when you get to know about it, you wonder how you sur-vived. Sometimes life becomes so hard, but you manage to make it easier in those cold tents, when the night is cold and dark all you could hear is yourself at that point all you want to do is cry. But I say to myself let the light of faith guide you during the time of hardship and adversity. Don’t let the fear and negativity affect you. I am a survivor ‘cause we navigate the darkest time by the light that shines from within.

Page 28: You said: “I’ll go to an-other country, go to another shore, / find another city better than this one. / Whatever I try to do is fated to turn out wrong / and my heart lies buried as though it were something dead. / How long can I let my mind moulder in this place? / Wherever I turn, wherever I happen to look, / I see the black ruins of my life, here, / where I’ve spent so many years, wasted them, destroyed them total-ly.” / You won’t find a new country, won’t find another shore. / This city will always pursue you. You will walk / the same streets, grow old in the same neighbourhoods, / will turn gray in these same houses. / You will always end up in this city. Don’t hope for things elsewhere: / there is no ship for you, there is no road. / As you’ve wasted your life here, in this small corner, / you’ve destroyed it everywhere else in the world. (The City, C.P. Cavafy)

Page 31: I told the candle about my grief over your exile / The candle burnt so much that I regret what I said

I took the road and I’m comingin the rain and I’m drenched;

at your steps I whistle,let me come in

Zeybekiko by Tsitsanis1950