Exploration with Culture
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) puts on two summer youth programs, bringing recently resettled refugees together into the American school system. Some have basic English skills, others have none. This is just the intro into their new life, from harm to home in the U.S.
Having recently connected with International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Seattle Chapter, doors opened to a host of incredibly humbling experiences. Shooting for them takes me back to my travel roots, experiencing other cultures and the people. The above photograph is a group of recently arrived refugees from Nepal and Bhutan who wanted to create a knitting community. The experience being there resulted in the women erupting in traditional song and laughter, with communication spoken via hand and body gesture.
Started in Seattle in 1976, little presence is known of their existence within the city. The continuing goal working with them is to create a library of imagery that they can utilize as posters, thank you cards, newsletters, website material and more. Below are more images taken for IRC’s Seattle Chapter.
A knitting community created by recent arrivals of IRC’s Seattle Chapter
A daughter who recently arrived from Eritrea sees her father for the first time in over one year.
A joyous father is happily reunited with his daughters after flying into SeaTac from Eritrea.
A woman practices job training skills at an activity created by IRC for newly arrived refugees.
A man from Burma studies basic job training skills in Tukwila, WA after arriving to the United States three months ago.
A teacher back in Burma, now faces a new language, a new culture, and a new set of skills acquired at IRC’s job training class.
Denis, a refugee from Bosnia under IRC from over 14 years ago, now volunteers to help new arrivals adapt to American culture and job market.
Learn more by visiting IRC Seattle Chapter
A Somalian refugee seeks out a home with his father in Djibouti City, Djibouti. As a neutral zone for the war in the Middle East, Djibouti City is home to countless military bases, serving up a city ripe with bars, expensive hotels, prostitutes, and entrepreneurs. It is also a main port of East Africa receiving commodities from the Arabian Peninsula and Yemen, a mere 12 miles (20km) from the Djibouti coastline.
