One Camp. 500,000 Refugees. Countless Incredible Stories.
Dadaab, Kenya – March 25, 2013 – FilmAid is proud to announce the launch of DADAAB STORIES, a new interactive, multimedia documentary project charting everyday life in the world’s largest refugee camp. The vast majority of the nearly 500,000 refugees living in Dadaab are from Somalia, displaced by armed conflict, natural disaster or persecution.
DADAAB STORIES is now available at: www.dadaabstories.org
Bringing together video, poetry, music, community journalism and personal blogs on a cutting edge, interactive website, DADAAB STORIES is a living, curated collection of personal stories from one of the most challenging environments on the planet. DADAAB STORIES allows visitors to explore the refugee experience and engage with Dadaab camp through information and imagery.
“Our goal with DADAAB STORIES is to help open up a window between global audiences and the extraordinary and inspiring community in Dadaab, people we’re privileged to work with every day,” says Liz Manne, Executive Director of FilmAid. “Normally the media only shows up in these far-flung, dusty corners of the globe when headlines are screaming. But it’s important to know that life goes on in Dadaab every day — real, human life in all its colors. Stubborn, confounding, rich, beautiful, comic, messy — often devastating — yet sometimes glorious. These lives — and their stories — are real, they count and they deserve to be known.”
About DADAAB STORIES (www.dadaabstories.org)
DADAAB STORIES is an evolving online documentary and ultimately a collaborative community media project. It is a place for refugees to share their stories with the world. It is an initiative of FilmAid, a humanitarian media organization that has been making, teaching and screening films in Dadaab since 2006.
DADAAB STORIES is nonlinear and multimedia. Stories are told through video, photography, poetry, music and journalism. Everyone in the has a story to tell, and this is the place to share these stories. Just like Dadaab itself, DADAAB STORIES is always changing, and new content is added regularly.
DADAAB STORIES is a groundbreaking web initiative, which utilizes the Tumblr social media platform in ways that have never been seen before. Accessing Tumblr’s enormous, vibrant community will ensure these important stories are seen and shared among a diverse audience.
DADAAB STORIES was inspired by the countless untold stories of refugees living in Dadaab and around the globe. Acting as an art piece, oral history archive and advocacy tool, DADAAB STORIES brings the daily realities of refugees closer to a global audience than ever before.
Produced by FilmAid and supported by the TFI New Media Fund and the Ford Foundation, DADAAB STORIES is an online community, welcoming partners including the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Internews, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Active Voice, Shelbyville Multimedia, Refugees International, IRIN, Handicap International, Cinemoi, RefugePoint, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), International Rescue Committee (IRC), International Organization for Migration (IOM), Peace One Day, Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK), Creative Time, Refugees United, Star FM, Jesuit Hakamani Centre and Catholic Refugee Services.
DADAAB STORIES Credits
FilmAid presents DADAAB STORIES — Producer/Director K. RYAN JONES — Created by RAFIQ COPELAND, K. RYAN JONES — Executive Producers RAFIQ COPELAND, LIZ MANNE — Co-Producers JOHN KILUNGU, VICTOR OMBONYA, CHARLES OTIENO, ELIZA PERCIVAL — Supervising Producer RAMAH HAWKINS — Field Producers LIBAN RASHID, ABDI RASHID, AKUNE OBANG ATALE, BASHIR SHEIKH MOHAMMED — Associate Producers KEPHA KIRAGU, ROBERT WANJOHI — Web Design & Development RONIK DESIGN
About Dadaab
Located in Kenya, near the Somali border, Dadaab is the world’s largest refugee settlement. Managed by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Dadaab serves a population of nearly 500,000 refugees, the majority Somali. Refugees arrive in the camp fleeing armed conflict, disaster or persecution. Following famine and renewed conflict in the region in 2011, over 100,000 new refugees flooded into the camp. More recently, the region has been hit by a series of major security incidents including kidnappings of aid workers and IED explosions.
About FilmAid (www.filmaid.org)
FilmAid is a nonprofit organization that uses the power of film and media to bring life-saving information, psychological relief and much-needed hope to refugees and other communities in need around the globe.
About Ronik Design (www.ronikdesign.com)
Ronik is a creative group of designers and developers that works closely with forward-thinking brands to create engaging user experiences, from strategy all the way through development.
For easy publication of the DADAAB STORIES Trailer, here is the embed code ready to cut and paste:
