Journeys
Journeys is a verbatim play that tells the unforgettable stories of Saron and Alicia, who come to this country seeking refuge only to find themselves refused, locked up and facing deportation. Juliet Stevenson, Sia Berkeley and Noma Dumezweni brought Journeys to shocking life at its first outing at the Women of the World festival in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank, March 2011.
Photography by Aliya Mirza, Sofia Kalu
Alicia: Altogether I was in Yarls Wood, in and out, for 3 years. Like a mouse with a cat, you go and you are snatched again.
Saron: I used to be so full of hope. I used to believe that most people were good at heart. Even when I came to this country I thought I would survive and make a good life for myself. It wasn’t what happened to me in my home country which broke me. It was what happened to me. That was what broke my spirit.
Journeys is produced in association with the Yarl’s Wood Befrienders and the Write to Life group at the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture.
Read Natasha Walter’s article in the New Statesman, telling Saron and Alicia’s stories.
Read a review of the Journeys event by Rosie Scammell.
I admire the work carried out by Women for Refugee Women. By telling the true stories of women and children in the asylum process they woke a lot of people up to the scandal of child detention.
Michael Morpurgo, author of War Horse
I have been delighted to support Women for Refugee Women since its launch- I've been truly inspired by the great work this organisation does, enabling women who seek asylum to speak out - whether at the grassroots or to government ministers.
Oona King
Many refugees and asylum seekers have fled their home countries because of human rights abuses. The work of agencies like Women for Refugee Women is vital for helping people rebuild their lives and have a voice.
Trevor Phillips OBE, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission
Put the word refugee in front of woman and immediately prejudice and projection arise. Meet a refugee woman, hear her struggles – and her joys – and you encounter a person, like you and me, who has been more than unlucky....
....Women for Refugee Women joins the dots, restores our humanity to ourselves and enables women to fight for theirs. Please support them.
Susie Orbach, psychotherapist and author of Bodies and Fat is a Feminist Issue
