Mia Kirshner's Blog
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The I Live Here Foundation is born!
- Posted on 09.05.08
I Live Here came out of a creeping realization that I knew little of how most of the world lived. My ignorance felt selfish.
After nine months of intensive reading, I made my first research trip, to the Russian republic of Ingushetia, where tens of thousands of refugees had fled from the war in Chechnya. Next, I visited the Thailand-Burma border zone, then the Mexico-U.S. border, and the African nation of Malawi. The goal was to better understand what happens in between moments of crisis, and maybe to see how we all remain connected. I hoped to put together a book where survivors of war, famine, isolation, rape, and neglect would tell the stories of their lives. Seven years later, the book is complete. It has turned into something like a paper documentary. I’ve never worked so passionately on anything in my life.
The book was ultimately a team effort by myself, J.B. MacKinnon, Paul Shoebridge, and Michael Simons, and together we created the I Live Here Foundation. Our goal is straightforward: To set up simple creative writing programs in some of the places we visited. We want to keep alive the dialogue that we have started in these forgotten corners.
With the support of Causecast and the amazing Brian Sirgutz, we are launching our first writing program in a prison for boys in Malawi this November. The next steps: (1) a second writing program in Burma for sex workers, and (2) new research expeditions to begin work on a second I Live Here book.
Here’s the thing—we can’t do this alone. Do you believe that stories can change the world? If so, please help us build the creative collaborations that made I Live Here possible. Here are some ideas of what you can do:
* Buy the book
* Discuss the book in your class, club, or community
* Check out i-live-here.com and donate
* Tell your friends
We have our work cut out for us over the next two years. We’ll do our very best. I hope you’ll join us.
Many hugs,
Mia
Related causes: Human Rights, Arts
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