Weavetales- Refugees Stories

It is the program's goal to reach as many people as possible. Whether it is  refugees and immigrants who want to improve their public speaking abilities to share their stories, or to open the ears and the hearts of the community, the end goal of this program is to  increase inclusivity and to foster a more welcoming community to everyone. After the successful completion of our first cohort in December of 2020, we saw a significant increase of qualified applicants for our second cohort which began March 1st of this year, and expect to see more and more applicants with each cohort. We offer full scholarships to cover the tuition and fees for each student, and due to this, our class and team size relies heavily on funding that we are able to obtain. We had to make extremely difficult decisions when accepting students into the program, and could only admit less than half of the applicants. We hope to be able to acquire funding to admit every qualified applicant, as well as be able to pay our team members, many of whom are currently donating their time to the mission.

As a former refugee from Iraq who lived under oppressive dictatorships and a war-torn country, My experience of having escaped corruption, persecutions, and many death threats in Iraq initiated by administrations who valued power and greed over people's lives, I was among the many families that were spared. I was able to leave my homeland of Iraq to the U.S. as a refugee and an immigrant because of these hardships I faced with my family it lead me to turn to advocacy and shortly after I became the statewide refugee delegate for the Refugee Congress, as well as the statewide Florida refugee organizer then to the chair for a national campaign that led by refugees.

My passion is to serve and empower the refugee and immigrant communities. Which led me and others to form Weavetales, a nonprofit organization that collects and shares the stories of refugees in their narratives and share experiences. .The success of the project launched the New American speaker’s program, NASP, a speaker referral and training program designed to help newcomers who left their homeland and settled into America to share their stories of migration and integration to the general public. In the past four years, I have led many campaigns, founded many community programs and held hundreds of educational sessions around advocacy, organizing, and political education to empower our community.

Throughout history, xenophobia has affected society. In the most heinous of xenophobic acts, entire groups of people were decimated, and today, we continue to see how this judgement and blame towards certain groups has materialized in more discreet ways. Vulnerable people continue to risk their lives in pursuit of security for themselves and their families, but they are constantly met with this hostility. The root causes of this xenophobia and resentment involve a lack of empathy and understanding.

Many immigrants and refugees opt to leave their native nations, and embark on what can often be a treacherous journey. They then reach the United States, only to encounter this xenophobia. However, the first step in combating this issue is providing a platform for immigrants and refugees to start a dialogue with their community. The New American Speakers Program’s mission is to open that dialogue, and equip refugees and immigrants across the country with the skills and confidence necessary to share their stories. With thousands of refugees relocating to the United States each year, a program designed to empower their voices and promote a more welcoming and inclusive community is desperately needed. 

Florida has long been a landing point for large numbers of refugees and immigrants, and WeaveTales’ New American Speakers Program (NASP) is not only unique within the Sunshine State, but there are very few programs like it in the nation. The program was aimed to support local refugees in the Jacksonville, Florida area, but our students quickly expanded out of Florida to represent states all around the country. While there are many classes and programs that are offered to refugee and immigrant populations, they tend to either be for professional development, or English as a Second Language. There is no doubt that those courses are extremely important, but the New American Speakers Program aims to go beyond that. Our mission is instil a sense of confidence into a community of individuals who had to uproot their lives, and move to a new place to attempt to rebuild. This transition is often difficult, and is made more cumbersome when they are met with hostility and resentment. NASP is the only course in the country that attempts to mend the gap between newcomer and neighbor through public speaking and storytelling. 

Our team of dedicated refugee and immigrant advocates works tirelessly to ensure that our students accomplish their goals in the course. Because the New American Speakers program is still young, we send out multiple surveys to our students and community members to acquire as much feedback as possible. A large cause of xenophobia is lack of understanding, and the New American Speakers Program is designed to combat this by providing a platform for refugees and immigrants to share their stories, and encourage their own communities to listen. Our students from our first cohort of students have already gone on to accomplish incredible things, one of whom was even booked as a TedX speaker. The goals of our program are continuously being met as each of our students has the confidence to share their story, whether it be to a neighbor, or to an audience, and with each story that they are able to share, the audience with whom they share it grows as well. Our amazing students are slowly breaking down barriers between different cultures and communities by simply opening up a dialogue between them.