Conrad Grebel students take refugee rights out of the classroom, and into the theatre.
For five senior Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) students at the University of Waterloo, learning about refugee claimants in Canada is a journey that is leading them from the classroom to the theatre as they prepare to perform their culminating project, “Open? A Story of Refugee Claimants in Canada” on stage at the Conrad's Centre for the Performing Arts on April 1st, 2011.
Katie Cowie, Jessica Reesor Rempel, Michelle Van Rassel, and Kimberlee Walker originally developed the play in the fall of 2010 as part of a third-year PACS course. In January, the group decided to expand and develop the performance as their final thesis for their Peace and Conflict Studies degrees, and asked fellow student Rebecca Steiner to come on board as director.
To extend the impact of their work even further, the group offered to perform the play as a fundraiser for the Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support (MCRS), the only organization in Region of Waterloo dedicated to serving refugee claimants. To support the event, the use of the Conrad Centre was donated in-kind by the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.
Reesor Rempel and Walker regularly volunteer with MCRS, and have built relationships with a number of refugee claimants living in the community. Walker says:
We want our refugee claimant friends to know that we have heard their stories and we are trying hard to understand what they may be thinking, feeling and struggling with as they go through the claimant process.
Reesor Rempel agrees.
Normally, when I am working on a school project, I want to do well so I will earn a certain grade. Here the stakes are so much higher. We want to present this issue in the most accurate and authentic way we can because we feel accountable to our refugee claimant friends.
As Cowie explains:
[The play] puts a human face to political debates, and really challenges people to reflect on how their attitudes, and the policies of Canada actually affect individual lives.
The panel discussion following the performance involves the group’s Academic Supervisor, immigration history professor Dr. Marlene Epp, as well as Kitchener-based refugee lawyer, Stephen Schmidt, and MCRS Executive Director, Eunice Valenzuela.
To reserve tickets or for more information, call MCRS at 519-571-1912, or visit MCRS website. All proceeds support the work of MCRS.
Leah Reesor, Resource Development Coordinator
Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support
Phone: 519-571-1912
By Leah Reesor