Month: February 2018

Cali and I have finally decided to try to reach out to the Somali population that is concentrated in the Lewiston/Auburn area in Maine. The planning is starting in earnest now so things are beginning to roll into motion. We have begun a draft document of our interview questions. It is really important to both of us that we allow the interviewees to be able to share what they think is important, and so our questions are rather broad and open ended. This should allow for us to follow up when interesting ideas and stories surface so each interview we do is completely unique. To learn more about how Cali is preparing, her blog can be found here.

My partner and I had a really helpful meeting with the archivist/special collections librarian on our campus. I wasn’t expecting much because Farmington, Maine is not known for its vast populations of migrants. However, librarians always have another trick up their sleeves so we weren’t left in the dark; she pointed us in the direction of how to get a good start on our search.

Firstly she suggested that we could start off with census data for the state of Maine to get some broad unspecific data. As we narrow it down we could look into info that county or city governments have available online, because it would be much more specific. She said that local libraries are also a great way to get our finger on the pulse of a community.  We also looked at a tool called the Maine Memory Network which is a place that contributors all across the state can upload information and images about the history of Maine and its residences. This tuned up some really interesting information about immigration going back 400 years. As we clicked on exhibits and pages more and more useful links were suggested, such as some information about the Somali populations there is in the Lewiston/Auburn area of our state. The best part of using the Maine Memory Network is that the contributors are all people we can find within Maine and talk to for more information.

Now that we had some basic information and a few directions to head in, the next big question came up. Once we identify a community we want to focus on, how do we go about contacting individuals? Our lovely librarian did not let us down! To meet and speak to individuals within an immigrant community we can contact organizations and charities that provide them with support and services. This would be a good first step that would allow us to be sensitive to people’s privacy.

Cali and I started this class with really no specific connections, so we have a lot of work ahead of us, but our local librarian was an invaluable piece of getting us started in the right direction. The lesson to be learned from this, is librarians are the greatest and helpful in any sort of research capacity. I am excited for the challenge ahead of us, and how it will unfold.

This week I began working with different types of media to talk a  little about migration and why it matters. I decided to go work with Google Slides, a tool that I have worked with before. Something I have not done, though is embed something from Google Slides directly into my blog. It took a little trial and error and some YouTube tutorials, but I had success in the end.

The presentation as it stands is some very, very basic information about why migration is important. I hope as I learn more I can continue to change and expand the information to show people why they should try to understand the issues of migration more deeply.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NRwX9r9qyI9yeTan0tkzxr2IRgowT7e2HfdomnHPx8Y/edit?usp=sharing

Last semester I was taking a class about teaching English as a second language, and it brought to the surface how much I loved the time I spent in Indonesia helping university students with their conversational English. I was so excited then to hear about the opportunity to take this COPLAC Digital class called Voices of Migration. To have the chance to take a whole class that will allow me to not only learn about people migrating to my home, but also get to talk directly to people that have made that decision and journey is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Interviewing a person for an assignment allows me to ask deeper and more personal questions and really learn what they are about.

A class like Voices of Migration gives me a chance to create something worthwhile. Many times in my classes I only write an essay analyzing a piece of literature that many people have not read, and therefore will only be read by myself and my professor. Though I believe that sort of writing has it’s place and purpose I am looking forward to creating something that I would truly want to share with friends and family. Most of all though I just hope that I can help somebody tell their own story whom might not have otherwise.