Singing for Belonging
The first workshop programme draws on themes of home and building connections across culture and language. It takes place in after the summer months when many new families arrive to the camp. It is a period of great adjustment for the children.
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“PIKPA” was an oasis in the desert of government treatment of refugees and migrants. Yet, it was a gloomy place, conditions were harsh. For me, a citizen of a state, a white non-muslim European free to travel as I pleased, it was deeply depressing. For them, Others, time passed slowly, doing nothing, waiting and waiting and waiting...
In the summer, things were getting better. All sorts of volunteers stormed PIKPA, some to “educate” the adults, others to “entertain” the children. No matter what, they brought some colour to this grey space, some attention and care to the neglected.
Dee was not a summer bird. She showed up several times all through the year, bearing not just good intentions and love, but also determination and knowledge. Under her guidance, children would concentrate, express themselves, communicate, and create little things that gave them a sense of pride and satisfaction.
Whether it was a minor art project or a major performance, it all gave children a goal to achieve, a purpose.
As I saw it, participating day after day in this creative process, in a way, soothed their edges and assembled their scattered pieces in a whole. They looked calmer, stronger, happier.
This was the power of Dee’s workshops: transformative and healing.”
Roo Zanou - photographer and volunteer
Pikpa Leros 2016–2020
