Home… Where is home for you?
This project dwells on a subject that is near and dear to my heart – understanding the effect that moving from one country to another has on a person’s identity; and what personal qualities affect the immigration experience.
Are all immigrants the same?
Political debates have the tendency to lump immigrants into one category, as if they were all alike, and address the subject primarily as a socio-political phenomena. But immigration has such a multitude of facets and faces! Sometimes, we see these faces smiling on us from motivational posters produced to promote diversity and inclusion (these smiling people, of all colors, are humans just like you!) . Or from articles on immigration success stories, such as the ones depicting a person of color behind a desk of their successful business venture, making it big in the new country. What stories, however, hide behind these faces? What challenges did these people have to face in order to adjust? What (unique or not so much) challenges did they overcome and what challenges do they still struggle with?
Falling between the cracks
I believe that many immigrants “fall between the cracks” in the process of moving from one country to another – due to language barriers, financial and career challenges, complex family situations, and more. And while their kids might have a better future in the new country, many (but not all) immigrants remain stuck in between the two worlds, not fully here or there, their challenges and stories not expressed, not understood or heard.
Beyond all that, a fact that is often missing in the immigration discussion, is the often profound effect that it has, not only on the immigrating person himself, but also on his immediate and extended family, his parents, siblings and children. Ramifications and scale of these effects are hard to grasp, and are often not fully understood, or thought through, when a person contemplates the move.
I want to hear your story
I am currently collecting stories from people from various walks of life, who have gone through the experience of immigration, as children or as adults. Later, I plan to compile these stories into a book.