September 15, 2021
A very fast and successful start in Halifax today! We had so many school groups coming in starting from the morning - all of the guides were very busy all day. But this is a nice type of busy-ness. Because every time I start a tour with a crowd of 6, 7, 9 or 12- graders, first there is a little bit of a hesitation in their eyes. It is not easy to know whether they are really interested in the exhibition or the subject matter, or whether they are thinking “Oh well, this is another field trip that we have to go during the school year”. But once we move from one station to the other and explain the living conditions of 43 million displaced people around the world and once they are able to see the many different hardships of being a refugee, they slowly get more and more interested.
Midway through the tour, I have a very captive audience who ask very intelligent questions and give very insightful answers to my questions. By the end of the tour, I really feel accomplished, as I know that this tour will make a difference in their understanding of the next news on TV that they will hear about a refugee crisis and they will be able to imagine what happened to these people when they are moving from one place to another. And that makes me feel good at the end of an hour of constant talking!
(Banu Altunbas)
We had around 1500 visitors and lots of media coverage on our first day!
Take a look at a short video with reflections of one of our guides, Hassan Valji, and visitors of the exhibit.