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International Institute of Rhode Island's mission is to enable all area residents, especially immigrants and refugees, to become self-reliant, invested participants in our communities, while fostering respect and understanding among all people. Read more

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September 30, 2008

Save the Date: November 19, 2008

You will be inspired by HOME ACROSS LANDS, a film that chronicles the work of IIRI staff and volunteers as they guide and  empower a group of courageous Kunaman refugees making the transition from a life of despair in the Shimelba Refugee Camp in Ethiopia, Africa to a life of hope in their new home in Providence, RI.

When: Wednesday, November 19, 2008
6:30: Patron Reception
7:15: Film Showing

Where: The Columbus Theatre, 270 Broadway,Providence

In HOME ACROSS LANDS you will learn how IIRI maintains, strengthens, and supports a refugee population’s sense of community from their native country to the United States. The film will focus on chronicling the journey of newly arrived Kunaman refugees as they strive to become self-reliant, invested participants in their new home.

You will see interviews with Kunaman refugees both in the US and at Shimelba Camp in Ethiopia, IIRI staff, and other collaborators exploring the impact of resettlement on the Kunama and on their new communities. Through compassionate storytelling the film will illustrate for you the Kunama’s difficult and inspriring journey to their new homeland.

Reserve Your Tickets Now:
General Admission: $35
Reserved Seats: $100
Sponsorship Options: $500 to $5,000+ includes tickets, Patron Reception, etc.

To reserve tickets or for information on Sponsorship Options contact Jessica Barry at jbarry@iiri.org or 401.784.8619.

HOME ACROSS LANDS is presented by Devlo Media and Visionwink Films in association with IIRI. Excutive Producer: Mary Copp. Producers: Mary Copp, Jessica Jennings, John Lavall, & Julie Lewis. Director of Photography: Jessica Jennings. Editor: Julie Lewis. Director: John Lavall.

Who are the Kunama?

The Kunama are considered to be among the original inhabitants of the region they fled due to persecution by their government of Eritrea earlier this decade. Now refugees at the Shimelba Camp in Ethiopia, many Kunama have formed new communities of support and family in spite of their displacement. The camp is a temporary home, however, and as the Kunama begin to resettle in other countries, their sense of home, identity and community is compromised yet again, making them vulnerable in their dispersion.

How does a small rural tribe that is uprooted, possibly for the first time in its history, survive the tremendous changes that besiege them as refugees? Further, how does this same population resettle in a country so different from their own in terms of climate, technology, and economics, as the United States of America?