About 'Our Lives Online'

'Our Lives Online' is an asylum seeker project run by Womens Electronic Village Hall (WEVH) in Manchester. The project was funded by the Home Office. Digital Stories was funded by Awards for All.

WEVH is a women's organisation, which is committed to developing women's skill in ICT. The organisation has a good reputation in developing ICT skills for refugees and asylum seekers. One part of the project was improving the student's creative writing and illustrating with photos or drawing. Asylum seeker students wrote about their experience of coming to Manchester and their feelings on their desperate situation. When people come to a strange country they feel lonely, confused, afraid, isolated and vulnerable. They struggle to adapt themselves to the new situation. Although they are strangers, they are individuals with different backgrounds and standards of life; they have a lot of experience, skills and a lot to share.

*"A bundle of belongings isn't the only thing a refugee brings to his new country. Einstein was a refugee" *(United Nation High Commission of Refugees).

Education is the right of every human being, so if we give asylum seekers and refugees a chance to develop their skills, they will be a valuable asset to the host country. Their pieces of writing reflect their needs and their situation; we hope organisations that can help will give attention to their needs.

Finally, thank you to those who funded the project. Funding for the project has now finished. We would like to develop this work further, and hope that seeing the contributions made by asylum seekers on this website will motivate individuals and organisations who want to support this type of work to get in touch:

info@wevh.org.uk
0161 833 8830
Manchester Women's EVH
Ada House ¦ 77 Thompson St ¦ Manchester ¦ M4 5FY

The project was developed and delivered by WEVH staff Paula Carley - paula@weedillydog.com (new contact details)
and
Haregu Ghebremichael