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Three Stories from the Waiting Room

Short stories.

Storytelling by Mohamed Tonsy and Simon Suamu in collaboration with members of the Democratic Republic of the Congo community group. 

Three Stories From The Waiting Room English

 

This storytelling piece is also available as a word document, and in French-Congolese as a word document (French-Congolese).

Three stories from the waiting room is a series of short stories based on interviews with members of a Glasgow-based community group that supports refugees and asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The aim of these narratives was to build a visible archive of what the DRC community experienced during the Coronavirus lockdowns.  

To safeguard the members’ privacy and their right to anonymity, interviews were conducted by Simon Suamu, an advocate for refugee rights, the community guide, and a core member of the group. In collaboration with Edinburgh-based writer Mohamed Tonsy, the interviews were written as fictional narratives that portray the community’s struggle to get access to food, information on the virus, news, mental health care, and space to grieve when so many of their members died. More than the hurdles they faced, the stories show the resilience of the community and the strength they find in each other. 

 

French-Congolese translation

Trois histoires de la salle d’attente 

Histoires courtes.

Trois histoires de la salle d’attente sont une série de nouvelles basées sur des entretiens avec des membres d’un groupe communautaire basé à Glasgow qui soutient les réfugiés et les demandeurs d’asile de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC). Le but de ces récits était de construire une archive visible de ce que la communauté de la RDC a vécu pendant le confinement du coronavirus. 

Pour protéger la vie privée des membres’ et leur droit à l’anonymat, des entretiens ont été menés par Simon Suamu, défenseur des droits des réfugiés, guide communautaire et membre principal du groupe. En collaboration avec l’écrivain basé à Édimbourg Mohamed Tonsy, les interviews ont été écrites comme des récits fictifs qui décrivent la lutte de la communauté pour avoir accès à la nourriture, à l’information sur le virus, aux nouvelles, aux soins de santé mentale, et de l’espace pour pleurer quand tant de leurs membres sont morts. Plus, que les obstacles auxquels ils ont été confrontés, les histoires montrent la résilience de la communauté et la force qu’ils trouvent les uns dans les autres.

 

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Social Media Posts

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Instructions: Copy and paste the wording below and download the images attached below to add to the chosen social media post.

Post 1

Engage with these short stories, Three Stories from the Waiting Room, which showcases what #HelpsAndHinders social action for the community of asylum seekers & refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo community support group.

Storytelling by Mohamed Tonsy and Simon Suamu. In partnership with Social Action Inquiry Scotland @social_action_scotland

https://socialaction.scot/three-stories-from-the-waiting-room/

Post 2

Fear of speaking out hinders the social action for the community of asylum seekers & refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo community support group.

Find out more about what #HelpsAndHinders their social action in the short stories, Three Stories from the Waiting Room.

Storytelling by Mohamed Tonsy and Simon Suamu. In partnership with Social Action Inquiry Scotland @social_action_scotland

https://socialaction.scot/three-stories-from-the-waiting-room/

Post 3

Leadership from a few individuals persevering helps the social action for the community of asylum seekers & refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo community support group.

Find out more about what #HelpsAndHinders their social action in the short stories, Three Stories from the Waiting Room.

Storytelling by Mohamed Tonsy and Simon Suamu. In partnership with Social Action Inquiry Scotland @social_action_scotland

https://socialaction.scot/three-stories-from-the-waiting-room/

X (Twitter) Posts

Here are some suggested posts to promote this story.

Instructions: Copy and paste the wording below and download the images attached below to add to the chosen social media post.

Post 1

These short stories showcase what #HelpsAndHinders social action of the community support group for asylum seekers and refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
 
Storytelling by Mohamed Tonsy and Simon Suamu. In partnership with @Soc_Act_Scot
 
https://socialaction.scot/three-stories-from-the-waiting-room/

Post 2

Fear of speaking out hinders the community group for asylum seekers & refugees from the DRC.

Find out what #HelpsAndHinders their social action in these short stories.
 
Storytelling by Mohamed Tonsy and Simon Suamu. In partnership with @Soc_Act_Scot
https://socialaction.scot/three-stories-from-the-waiting-room/

Post 3

Leadership helps the community group for asylum seekers & refugees from the DRC.
 
Find out what #HelpsAndHinders their social action in these short stories.
 
Storytelling by Mohamed Tonsy and Simon Suamu. In partnership with @Soc_Act_Scot
https://socialaction.scot/three-stories-from-the-waiting-room/

Image for Social Media Posts

  1. Download the following image.
  2. Add the following to the post, or to Alt Text [image description: The extract reads “When Lydia asked him, how long did it take you to get your papers? He texted back, I’m stilling waiting. Hopefully soon. Simon had been waiting sixteen years.” Below this it reads ” what helps and hinders social action? socialaction.scot/stories”. Social Action Inquiry Scotland’s logo is in the bottom right corner, it is a sound wave that turns into a fist moving upwards.]