About the community

BK-LUWO is an Oxford-based self-help group for women refugees and exiles (although men who go to the group for support are not turned away).  It aims to develop a vibrant world culture in the region and share it with the wider community.

The Community Voices project
Developing a lasting record of the group’s traditions, language and culture is a key way of sharing their heritage, and the community aimed to use digital media to achieve this.  Training would be organised for members of the community before they created and presented short films based on the refugee experience enabling them to pass on their experiences and cultural heritage to the wider community.

What the community did
After being trained in digital media, members of the group captured each other’s stories on film – oral history being a traditional way of sharing their experiences.  They also worked with a photography mentor to learn how to capture portraits of themselves that reflected their heritage.  Quilt making and needlework are part of the group’s traditional skills.  By combining these traditional skills with their newly found digital media skills they created a large quilt which used digital images to tell stories of their journeys as refugees.  They presented their work to an invited audience at a community event.

How it changed the community
It changed the community in a number of ways:

• They learnt new skills that enabled them to pass on their traditions and culture to younger generations.
• Collaboration on the films strengthened the links between the group.
• Presenting their work at a community event raised awareness of their work and gave them a sense of achievement.
• The group was inspired to combine digital media skills with their traditional cultural skills.

Who's Involved?
To find out more about BK-LUWO, go to their website.

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