Roaa Sharaf and Moataz Aloklah, former classmates who came to Edmonton from Syria in 2016, gained digital multimedia skills and confidence in a UAlberta student-designed program that supports newcomer youth.
Before an audience of 80, two teenagers present a video slideshow of the Syria they once knew: the lush rolling hills, the stunning architecture of Damascus. "We were living in our heaven," says the young voice narrating the video.
The teens, Roaa Sharaf, 19, and Moataz Aloklah, 18, were able to share their story thanks to a UAlberta student-created program that helped more than 40 young newcomers to Canada - some of whom are refugees - make short multimedia "digital stories" about their journeys to Edmonton from places as diverse as Nigeria, the Philippines and Syria.
Program founder Punit Virk, '15 BSc, says the Newcomer Empowerment Through Stories initiative - a UAlberta Community Service-Learning project made possible by the Boardwalk Rental Communities Learning and Change Award - gave the teens digital skills and a safe space to express themselves despite language barriers and different backgrounds. Virk, now a graduate student in public health, says the experience stoked his life's passion to improve mental health care for youth.
Sharaf, one of the Syrian teens whose video brought the audience to tears, says the digital storytelling program helped build her confidence. Meeting youth from around the world who shared her experience as a newcomer made her feel less like a stranger and more, well, at home. "I realized I wasn't alone," she says.