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As a Hart Fellow with Inter-Country Peoples' Aid in 1999-2000,
Marcy Levy worked with children and adolescents in Hatcliffe Extension
on a program encouraging them to explore their lives and community
through writing, photography, drawing, drama, and song. The work
in this gallery is from the photography component of the program,
nicknamed "My Community: Hatcliffe Extension," by the
group.
Gallery:
"Our Voices: Hatliffe Extension, photographs by youth"
The black and white images of Dzivarasekwa Extension, Hatcliffe
Extension and Porta Farm were made by Marcy Levy as part of her
work with Inter-Country Peoples' Aid.
Gallery:
Advocacy Programming with
Youth in Hatcliffe Extension, Zimbabwe
In recent years, new emigration and asylum laws opened the door for ethnic
Germans in Eastern Europe and former Soviet Asia to return to their homeland.
Yet many of these immigrants—called Aussiedler, meaning literally “out–settlers,”
or Spataussiedler (“late out–settlers,”), referring to those who have arrived
since 1994—now find themselves foreigners to modern German and society and
culture.
“Returning Home: Stories of Aussiedler in Germany” is a collection of the
diverse experiences of Aussiedler living in Jena, Germany. The photographs
and writings in this gallery include portraits of Aussiedler families and
voices from America, Germany, Kazakhstan, the Ukraine, Romania, and Russia.
In presenting these diverse perspectives on Aussiedler, how they view themselves
and how others view them, it is our hope that this work can create understanding
for Aussiedler and for the experiences of immigrants and refugees everywhere.
Gallery:
"Aussiedler Photographs by Marcy Levy, Text by Ellen Eischen"
Spätaussiedler youth, ages 11 to 25, worked with Ellen Eischen and Marcy Levy
to reflect upon the experiences of young Spätaussiedler in Germany and the
ways in which Spätaussiedler are viewed by others. The project was inspired
by photographer Wendy Ewald's work with children.
We met together with Spätaussiedler youth in a small park in Jena, Germany.
During an intensive month of collaboration, the youth worked to document their
memories of Russia and their new lives in Germany. They photoraphed-with
Polaroid cameras that produced a photograph for them to keep and a negative
that they returned to us-and wrote in their journals on themes ranging from
"How I Imagined Germany Before I Came" to "My Dreams."
We came to know the youth through our time with them, but we learned about
them most intimately through their writing and photography. We found that the
youngest participants seemed to have a more positive view of German society and
their life in Germany. The youth in their later teens and early twenties were
less optimistic, perhaps because they had experienced or foresaw restricted
opportunities due to language, cultural, and societal barriers and the high
unemployment rate in eastern Germany.
The youth's writing and photography taught us about the vastly different worlds
in which they have lived and the challenges they face. It showed us not only how
the youth see themselves but also how they are perceived in the wider community.
We feel privileged to share their insight on poverty, prejudice, and
responsibility as global citizens.
Ellen Eischen and Marcy Levy
Gallery:
"Aussiedler Youth Photographs"
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