Funds to help our young refugees, migrants
YOUNG refugees will tell their own story, through many voices and languages, thanks to a boost in funding for the Empire Theatres Foundation.
It is one of seven charities in the region to receive a share of $28,000 from the Queensland Community Foundation’s annual grants program.
Empire Theatre projects officer Jeanette Wedmaier said writer and director Ari Palani would work with refugee and migrant students at Harristown State High School in the Many Voices - One Story project.
The story will be about being and becoming Australia, and what connects us as humans in this time and place. It will be scripted and filmed with each scene in a different language.
“It will be very much led by the participants. That is how we do a lot of our work, particularly with young people,” Ms Wedmaier said.
The Empire Theatre has worked with the group of students before, using theatre so solidify their learning along with English and maths.
“Some of the students that we come into contact with are also torture and trauma sufferers depending on which region they have come from,” she said.
“So the arts can be a really effective mechanism for them to help explain their emotions.”
Other recipients were the Cancer Patients Foundation, The Eating Issues Centre, Sunrise Way, Cystic Fibrosis Queensland, Reason to Thrive and the AEIOU Foundation.