Refugee Tales - Festival of Walking
This summer the AVID team joined various walking events hosted by Refugee Tales. In July, Refugee Tales celebrated their ten year anniversary over five days of walking, sharing stories and live performances. In this blogpost, Miranda shares her experience on day two of the walk.
It was lunchtime on the second day of Refugee Tales “Festival of Walking” – a five day walk from Southwark to Wimbledon marking the ten-year anniversary of Refugee Tales.
We were five miles in, having started in Hackney, strolled along the River Lea, crossed Springfield Park and made our way through Stoke Newington Abney Park Cemetery. After resting our feet and finishing our picnic on the rooftop of a primary school which had opened their doors to us for lunch, we were invited to watch a performance by some of the school children.
This was an unexpected surprise which soon turned out to be the highlight of my day. The children proceeded to perform a series of dances from Ghana to African drums. As they pointed their elbows, stamped their feet and bent their knees - in the so called “chicken dance” – their joy was infectious. It was not long before we were all clapping our hands to the beat of the drums and following their dance moves. It was a very fitting celebration for the ten year birthday of Refugee Tales and their ongoing commitment to a politics of welcome.
As the children skipped away with a wave, the words of one of the lunchtime panellists rang in my ears – “are these the jobs we want for our children?”
The panel had taken place just before the performance, the panellist was Marina Warner and the jobs she was referring to were those of immigration detention staff. Imagining these same children – with all their playfulness and joy – as adults working in detention centres could not have answered this question in a more resounding way. It was a reminder too of the importance of the vision of Refugee Tales – a future without detention – both for those who are at the harshest end of these policies as people arriving or wishing to stay in the UK and for people already living here. Communities which embrace welcome and celebrate difference alongside our shared humanity benefit us all. I know that I would choose this for future generations over policies which isolate, divide and separate.
We left the school, re-energized and ready to start walking again and this feeling stayed with me over the coming weeks.
Refugee Tales is more than a call for change, it is a community already enacting that change. Especially important in this current moment - amidst anti-immigration protests – Refugee Tales is an emblem of hope as they continue to walk, share and unite.
Join their growing community at their next monthly walk is in Guildford on 27thSeptember. More details will follow shortly on their website.
