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Since arriving in the UK seven years ago, Nabil Amini’s been a powerhouse in his community. Along with BRF, he currently volunteers with Bristol Refugee Rights, Borderlands and Aid Box Community – running art tables, working to make people feel welcome and to bring a smile to as many faces as possible. He’s also a member of the Bristol Refugee Artists Collective (BRAC), who are looking ahead to a joint exhibition with UWE later this year. 

It’s safe to say Nabil takes every opportunity he can to get out, meet people and exercise his creativity. Here he talks more about his motivations and his philosophy for wellbeing.

Before, it wasn’t my interest in doing art. I wanted to go to university to study biology, but I wasn’t allowed to in Iran because I’m a refugee.  The first time I arrived to Bristol Refugee Rights (BRR) they had an art table and said did I want to paint something. . So I did some painting and they said ‘Oh, you’re really good at that’. I said, ‘Seriously?! You mean that is good?!’ They said yes! Then every time I went to BRR I did a painting, and I brought some stuff home to practice a lot. Maybe 5 years ago, I got my first exhibition, as part of BRAC.

Sometimes people suggest doing meditation and say ‘close your eyes and relax’. , but when I close them my brain is not mine, it’s going everywhere. Painting is like my meditation. 

I really like realistic painting. I like landscapes most, showing the beauty of nature. I’m using landscapes to help people connect with nature. Colour is very important to me. Colour is everything! In my opinion, green makes you calm. Other colours might make you feel upset. When you go outside and see the damage, you feel it in your heart.Because I lived in three different countries, I know how the climate changes and how bad it is for the people in those areas. I’ve seen the problems in Afghanistan and Iran. Most of the people in Afghanistan are farmers – when blossom is damaged, they don’t have any fruit in the summertime. Lots of rivers are dry, because there’s no snow, or snow at the wrong time. 

I used to live in a small village in Iran with a beautiful river. It had wild animals, horses and fish. We were going swimming, hunting fish and cooking them. That was the best time in my life. Then, the next city opened lots of factories. They put all the sewage in the river, and all the trees died. I saw the way it had changed, it was so sad. 

When I go outside and walk sometimes I believe each bush or plant looks like a hand. I touch my hand to the leaves of trees to say hello. I feel like they’re my friends in a way and if I miss some of them, in my heart I say ‘I’m sorry, I’ll catch you next time!’

I love music and dancing. I have four instruments at home – a santor from Iran, guitar, keyboard and flute. I can’t play any of them – yet I’m still happy I have them!  I’m learning to play guitar with the Dovetail Orchestra. I’m also doing a show this month with ACTA, the community theatre. I like it because it’s about climate change, and also family. Nowadays I think society is making families far away from each other. The culture here is very different from mine. Here you leave home at 18. In my country we stay together: sometimes the parents make a bigger house, and even if I got married I would stay or live nearby. 

For me, doing art and music is a way of being with people, which makes me calm. When I’m doing some activity with someone I’m not thinking about bad things. I don’t judge others and if they judge me on anything, I can ignore it. It makes me patient. 

I really like helping people. Volunteering at BRR, when I’m talking with people they hear similar languages to their own and that makes them happy and comfortable. When I serve them I think, I don’t have the money to help in that way but I can help them with talking or thinking positively. 

The refugee people, before they get the visa, they’re not really happy and they’re not thinking about anything except their cases with the government. So I talk to people and say, I know it’s hard, but it can be OK. You’re not allowed to work, you don’t have any money, but you can’t change that. If you’re always thinking bad things, it might do bad things to you. Wellbeing is very important. If you become sad, lots of problems come into your mind, and lots of health issues in your body. When people come into these charities we want them to enjoy their time – because when the time is gone, we can’t get it back. So don’t just spend the time thinking about your case. You can learn lots of things while you’re waiting. Especially in Bristol there are lots of good activities and opportunities for people. I know it’s impossible to make all the world peaceful, but at least I can improve some people to think positive things. 

Before I worked with those charities, I was like a bird without wings. They give me the wings to fly to help the people. I need to help people and for me nowadays it doesn’t matter who needs help – be it British, immigrant, refugee. All of us are human and we have our dark side and light side. All of us are the same. The blood that is in my heart is the same colour as any another person, whether black or white or from any other country. It doesn’t matter – we are all the same.

Nabil featured in the We The Curious ‘Earth Stories’ series – read it here.Borderlands has produced a toolkit for those interested in running art tables for refugees and asylum seekers. Access it here.

In our latest blog we hear from Pooja, another of Bristol Refugee Festivals’ Ambassadors, on life in Bristol, what motivates her and the projects she devotes her time to.

My name is Pooja Bhardwaj, living in Bristol with my 4 year old son Raiyan in Bradley Stoke for 3 years and over. I love Bristol – its location near so many sea sides, lovely people, and this city has got beautiful history attached to it that makes it more special and memorable. In Bristol life is different, I sense alot of positive vibes. I found it lucky to be in Bristol because my life made major positive changes only after moving here. 

I found myself very lucky to have had an awesome opportunity to restart my career, in the accounting profession that I always dreamt of. To be honest I am very positive about everything I do in my life, so I thought it’s never too late to start. As I knew beforehand that where there is a will, there is a way, so as I started the course eventually I got the support to finance my fees and college expenses. 

For me as an asylum seeker this is the biggest motivation that you are getting all the support that you need to have a successful career. I am delighted and grateful to Bristol Refugee Festival (BRF) who have always supported me extraordinarily to achieve my goals, understanding my needs and giving me a sense of belongingness. Just recently they helped me raise the money for my accounting course for which I am so grateful.

I always from the corner of my heart wanted to help and support others. When I came to Bristol in early 2020 during the peak of the pandemic I got substantial support with groceries and essentials. I was so glad to receive this, but on the other hand I found it to be great if I could help some charities by volunteering for them. 

I started to volunteer at Aid Box Community (ABC) as well as volunteering with BRF as an ambassador. It feels so good when I interact with diverse groups. I love helping the ABC hub every Monday. What brings me there is the super supportive nature of the people working around me in the team, and honestly it feels like home. We have good communication with lots of chats and cups of coffee. 

People are so happy here in Bristol and the surroundings are so beautiful, it inspires me to be here for the rest of my life.

At the recent Creating Spaces of Welcome workshop, Bristol Refugee Festival brought together people from local communities and organisations with refugees and asylum seekers to explore how our local spaces can be more welcoming to the full spectrum of people in the community. 

Sherien Elsheikh, a Refugee Festival ambassador who was at the event, reflects on the theme with reference to some personal experiences.  

Welcoming is the connection between people when they meet up to socialize. I felt the welcoming spaces workshop was open for everyone. This event took place to open up and encourage people to come out of isolation and join the surrounding living community. There were lots of people from different backgrounds and religions, smiling and hugging each other. I felt a beautiful feeling, all people with each other and, among them, intimacy.  

It’s nice to see people of different races, genders, and religions, but they are united by affection, compassion, and a sense of belonging to the place and people. We left our country for various reasons; the best relations brought us together here, and we became family and friends. 

At the event, there were a lot of people. Jules opened the speaking with beautiful words, and then I spoke. To make them realize the sense of welcome and belonging, I started saying the word welcome in my mother tongue; then they started saying the same word in several other languages, and there was a happy atmosphere in the place. 

Language has a very strong effect in attracting people’s attention, bringing them closer, and making them feel belonging and acceptance. Knowing each other’s languages ​​and accepting each other as we are indicates awareness and culture. 

In the creating spaces of welcome event people shared many of the problems they encounter during their work in organizations, including the difficulty of understanding the language of new members, the lack of translators for all languages, and many questions that revolve around endearing and desiring people in society and reducing their fear of it. 

The importance of welcoming 

Bristol is famous for its multiplicity of cultures and races. It is beautiful and a centre for artists and musicians – evidence that people treat each other with kindness. 

When a person leaves his home to live somewhere else, he will be apprehensive and expect anything at the same time. The most difficult feeling is to leave your place of birth and family, especially if it is very difficult to return to them soon. 

I was born in Libya and grew up there, and we learned about many cultures. I went to Sudan and completed secondary and university studies, becoming a tutor at the university. I would see how my family welcomed others, providing delicious meals and drinks, and comfort. 

In my first months in England, after leaving my mother, father, sisters and brother to who I was so attached, and having given birth to my eldest son, I went out without my husband. I was pushing my little baby on his pushchair. Some teenagers attacked me, using bad words and throwing stones. There is no language.. no protection.. I cannot describe that feeling.. I wanted to cry so badly. 

Also, one day, when I was on the bus, I asked the driver to stop to get off, but he refused, and I did not know how to act. I felt unwanted. 

In this life, we ​​learn a lot from the situations that pass us by. It strengthens us and increases confidence within us over time. 

I also had the good fortune to feel a sense of welcome. I have worked a lot in volunteer work and met many types of people who give you this feeling. By nature, I love people, I love helping others, and meeting people with joy is a sign of welcome. 

My advice to people who are new to this country is not to be afraid, there is a law that protects you if you are right. And learn from others. I learned a lot. I learned that one position should not be generalized, that we should not take matters personally, and that we should forget and always develop ourselves for the better. 

We strive to get what we want. Because with the success of the individual, society succeeds. By building healthy and successful children, corruption will be reduced and ended. And accepting and respecting other cultures is a very important step towards gaining new experiences and getting to know more about the world. 

The BRF team were delighted to kick off this years Festival with a celebration launch at Malcolm X Centre on Monday 6th.

Thankyou to Marina Jenkins from ITV West Country who did this wonderful report on the event. For full details of our programme head over to our All Events page.

https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2022-06-07/the-bristol-festival-celebrating-refugees-and-asylum-seekers?fbclid=IwAR22QuPp-9VemM1M4PgvNBPhuyQHf9KXuZs07Rh9PgyZwlz9bQ_ykJ-yUts