Pass the Crayon

Meghan Geist flew all the way from America for an internship with PTC. She has been an invaluable help to us over the past three weeks, bringing her academic expertise, an openness to learn, and a wonderfully positive energy to the team. This is a piece she wrote for her University about her experience working with us:

Although my time with Pass the Crayon (PTC) was brief, I enjoyed every minute of it. Pass the Crayon is not the first refugee non- profit that I have had the opportunity to work with. The other was back home in Akron, Ohio, where I was fortunate enough to meet and help obtain visas for people from Bhutan/Myanmar, Nepal, and Mexico. However, with PTC I was introduced to a different side of the process, the view a refugee child has to a new country, language, and culture. 

I had many surprises throughout my time here to prove expectations are not reality. Since I have worked with refugees before, I went in with an understanding of how hard it would be for them to...

The treatment of the Rohingya people is one of the greatest human rights atrocities of recent times. Over half a million Rohingya refugees have been forced to flee to Bangladesh in the wake of mass slaughter and destruction of their homes, on a scale analogous with 'ethnic cleansing'. This leads us all to question: How did this start, and why? Pass the Crayon volunteer, Aggie Andrews, explores these questions in her article.

(via Nasdaq) 

A BRIEF HISTORY.

Since August 2017, over 600,000 Rohingya people have been forced to leave their homes to escape the persecution of the Myanmar army. Extreme violence is reported to have taken place within the Rhakine State, resulting in the Rohingya travelling via foot or boat to neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh. 

Before this violence ensued the Rohingya were living amongst other ethnic groups in the Rhakine state on the West coast in Myanmar. The Rohingya people have been specifically targeted out of many groups, raising the...

"Volunteering gives me a sense of empowerment and joy in creating change..": Pass the Crayon volunteer, Babi Paul, explains what volunteering means to her, and why EVERYBODY should do it!

I have always been very fond of children, and I have to gather a lot of strength and courage to not break down when I think about what those little innocent faces have been through at such a young age. 

But No. To my surprise, from the moment I went to my first Pass the Crayon art workshop (at the refugee shelter in Spandau), there wasn’t a second when I wasn't smiling, for these children were full of life and happiness. 

What I’ve learnt is that each child is different: the more we pay attention to the art that they're developing, the more we can learn about the kind of life they’ve experienced before reaching Europe. 

"What I’ve learnt is that each child is different: the more we pay attention to the art that they're developing, the more we can learn about the kind of life they’ve ex...

Part 2 of Niamh's story: Pass the Crayon volunteer, Niamh, shares her thoughts and impressions from our movie-making workshop series, held at the Pankow refugee shelter.

WEEK 3: OSCAR NIGHT IN PANKOW.

Last week, I gave you all a run through of our PTC film-making workshop so far, in which a professional film director ran a three-part workshop series on shooting your own small film.

Last week, the kids got the chance to get in front of the camera and make their stories come to life, and this week, the finished movie clips are ready to be admired and critiqued by a 30 person strong panel of excitable judges. Each film had its own unique style, a great sense of fun, exuberance and a plentiful array of guns! Enjoy.

MOVIE 1: HEXCITING DRAMA!

The first film is a tale of betrayal, witchcraft and resurrection from the dead from a group of tiara and tutu-clad actresses who jump around animatedly and cast their hexes upon similarly flamboyant enemies.

Their victims immediately drop to the floor, app...

Part 1 of Niamh's story: Niamh describes her volunteering experience with Pass the Crayon in which she helps host a film-making workshop for the kids at the Pankow refugee shelter.

Pass the Crayon brings together art lovers, experts, novices and curious minds from all over the world to share their enthusiasm for creativity with refugee children and teenagers who have recently arrived in Berlin.

Via the creative process, Pass The Crayon helps to nurture a sense of creative curiosity, emotional articulation and self-expression- all important and often undervalued forms of developmental learning. 

Pass the Crayon currently hosts art workshops at three different refugee shelters in Berlin, providing their young audience with a creative outlet and a chance to learn new skills; from lino-cutting and cartoon storyboarding, to our latest venture…  shooting a film!

WEEK 1: PUPPIES, NINJAS & NETTO.

It’s a crisp autumnal Saturday afternoon and the quiet streets of North Berlin are rustl...