Our Goal
Gannon University and its students want to preserve
refugees' personal histories and experiences. By doing this, we
hope to raise awareness about refugee issues and help establish
connections between refugees and the communities that host
them.
Due to internal conflict, millions of people are displaced from
their home countries and forced to flee. This has created the
greatest refugee crisis in our history. This project explores the
following refugee populations:Bosnian, Syrian, Bhutanese and Iraqi.
Who Does this Impact?
The majority of those displaced are families with children. With
no place else to go, they turn to the UNHCR for a chance to begin
again.
Erie, Pennsylvania has a large refugee population. The city of
Erie has an incredible mix of people from all over the world.
The introductory history class (consisting of freshmen
undergraduate students) conducts and films interviews with refugees
after learning about and listening to them in class. Senior seminar
students then use digital editing skills to make finished videos of the interviews in order to preserve their personal histories
and raise awareness.
This information will be used for events and for scholarly
work.
Everyone impacted has their own story.
How Can We Help?
- Donate to the Erie Office of Refugee and Resettlement
- Money
- Furniture
- Basic food items
- Clothing, such as shoes, coats, hats, gloves, etc.
- Toys/ stuffed animals for children
- English tutoring for placed refugees
- Provide job opportunities within refugees' skill range
- Cultural acceptance
- Spread awareness of these global issues
- Become a conversation partner
Research Papers
Recordings
Refugee Mapping Project
Additional Resources
Questions
For more information on how you can help, contact one of the following organizations.