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Photographs Chronicle New Step for Refugees
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Tuesday, October 31, 2017
 

STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The plane touching down on Idaho soil should have been reason to rejoice for Bushra, a Syrian woman.

After all, she was now safe--half way around the world from the civil war that had driven her from her home. Halfway around the world from pervasive famine that is threatening 30 million people in the Middle East and East Africa.

Yet, she was so apprehensive that it took her nearly an hour to make her way from the plane to the arrival gate.

When she finally made those tentative steps, she was greeted by a couple hundred cheering Boiseans who had turned out to welcome refugees like herself who had made it despite the odds following a newly imposed travel ban restricting entry of immigrants and refugees. Even Boise Mayor Dave Bieter was there to present arriving refugees with a proclamation welcoming them.

A broad smile crossed the woman’s face as she was handed a big bouquet of flowers.

“These are my kind of people,” she whispered.

Bushra’s smile is memorialized in a telling photograph that’s part of a new photography exhibit called “The Lucky Ones: A Visual Story of Idaho Enriched by Refugees Arriving in Uncertain Times.” The exhibit debuted this week at the Sun Valley Museum of History, First and Washington streets in Ketchum, and will remain up through Dec. 9.

The exhibit features photos taken by Madeline Scott of refugees who have arrived in Boise following the ban imposed by the Trump Administration.

Those depicted in the photographs wear smiles every bit as big as the first woman. They include Bushra’s youngest son happily waving an American flag, a couple who were overjoyed that their little brother Bahati had made it through at the last minute and Julienne, a woman from the Congo who is said to dance and sing wherever she goes.

“I love the emotion in them,” said Ketchum resident Carolyn Lloyd. “There’s emotion with a sense of tentativeness. I’d love to see more photographs.”

The Community Library and International Rescue Committee from Boise unveiled the exhibit last weekend at a reception featuring Baba ghanoush made from eggplant, hummus, spinach-wrapped dolmas and pistachio-filled baklava that had been prepared by a former client of the IRC.

Salam and his brother had been chefs for the U.S. military in Iraq. After his brother was killed, Salam and his family fled to Boise where Salam opened The Goodness Land Restaurant, which regularly attracts airmen from Mountain Home Air Force Base.

“Given the context that we exist in, I’m so proud we’re doing this,” said Brad McClane, the library’s information technology specialist and sommelier.

Scott, who works in a Boise photography studio, shot the photos between February and April 2017. She took between 300 and a thousand photos for each photo hanging on the wall.

She hustled to the airport every time she got a text telling her that a plane carrying refugees was coming in.

“I knew photographers from the New York Times and Idaho Statesman were going to be there because of the controversy generated by the Travel Ban so there was a lot of pressure,” she said. “I found myself shooting through tears. I hope those who see the photographs will experience what these people experienced—they were overwhelmed, anxious, joyous.

“Now, they’re Idahoans,” she added, quoting a statement about the exhibit. “They’re our neighbors, our friends, and for that we’re all lucky.”

Julianne Donnelly Tzul, the IRC’s executive director, noted that a Syrian boy depicted in a wheelchair in one of the pictures attends school in Boise with her son. And, by all accounts, he is very happy with his new life.

“Aren’t these beautiful? Look how happy they are!” said Carter Hedberg, the library’s development director. “This is another chapter in the history of Idaho. So it makes perfect sense for this exhibit to be part of the museum’s offerings.”

The organization provides a variety of services to help the refugees settle in, including providing volunteers to acquaint them with public transportation options and establish bank accounts to helping women gain employment skills if they want them.

Nearly 80 percent of the refugees get job within their first eight months. Eighty-three percent of those were still employed three months later.

The IRC has resettled more than a thousand refugees since opening in Boise in 2006. It is part of a larger organization that operates in 40 countries and 27 U.S. cities.

The IRC had been expecting to get 400 this year. They have gotten 75 since the news of the ban capping  refugee admissions at 45,000 in 2018—the lowest since World War II.

“Boise has a history of welcoming refugees dating back to the Basques and, more recently, Bosnians. They come here because the quality of life is good and the cost of living not exorbitant,” said James Brownson, the IRC’s development manager.

“Now we’re getting people escaping war in famine in the Middle East and Africa—some of whom are very highly skilled and speak English. These photos depict a remarkable time in the lives of these people and what’s playing out across the nation.”

IF YOU GO…

The Community Library’s Museum of Cultural Heritage is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays in the Forest Service Park at First and Washington streets in Ketchum. Admission is free.

The exhibit will go on tour to Moscow, Idaho, and other cities following its gig in Ketchum.

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