Storytelling

Open Camp – a New Narrative from Children in Refugee Camps

Origin

The project began in 2017, amid a surge in migrant arrivals on European shores, particularly in Greece and Italy. Driven by a desire to understand the individuals behind the statistics, Fausta Pereira embarked on a journey to engage with these communities.

Drawing from her experience with the previous project ‘Os Filmes do Recreio,’ which ran from 2000 to 2006 with support from the Instituto Multimedia e Audiovisual (ICAM, now ICA), teaching animated cinema to schools in the Alentejo Region, Fausta adapted the methodology to the context of refugee camps.

In 2019, the project received support from National Geographic, and by 2021, it was successfully implemented in three refugee camps in Greece: Thermopylies and Katsikas on the mainland, and Mavrovoni on Lesbos island.

Scope

‘Open Camp’ empowers children and young adults with knowledge and technology in animation filmmaking. Through engaging workshops, participants learn in a ludic environment, fostering creativity and skill development. The project team provides all necessary resources for continued competency development and storytelling creation within the camps.

Furthermore, NGOs benefit from an additional activity to offer to the community, and technologies that volunteers can use for other activities related to music or filmmaking in real image for e.g.. These activities are new incentives for children to go to NGO safe spaces, avoiding random walking in the camps and strengthening bonds between NGO staff and refugees.

The project reached 38 refugee children, aged 8 to 18, originating from Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, and Iraq. All participants had been awaiting for asylum with their families for approximately three years, lacking access to formal education during this time.