The Azadi Project

Digital storytelling skills and mental health support for women refugee living in the Moria camp

This program was done in collaboration with the International Rescue Committee, Women in Solidarity House (WISH), and was supported by the UNHCR Greece.

All women participants of The Azadi Project Workshop in Lesbos had experienced trauma through violence both inside their houses and outside on the streets in war-torn Afghanistan, forcing them to flee their home country. They were being retraumatized because of unsafe living conditions in Moria, Europe’s biggest refugee camp. Through the art of storytelling, photography, yoga, and psychosocial support sessions with professional psychologists, the refugee women were taught to channel their fear, depression, anxiety, and hopes into stories they wanted to share with the world. The participants learned to ideate, script, film, and edit their videos.

All participants from Afghanistan participated in group therapy sessions for resilience building, facilitated by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and individual online counseling sessions with Dr Foojan Zeine, a certified psychotherapist based in Los Angeles.