Everyone has a story and each story needs a way of expression. For some, it is poetry, for others through music. Marieke and Sarah create both poetry and music with the refugee community at a refugee center in Belgium. The safe space they created for people to be authentic and share their stories has its own journey of commitment, passion and love for poetry, music, and humans.
In this week’s episode, Marieke and Sarah talk about the process of creating songs and poems about migration stories with refugees and asylum seekers in Belgium. The journey is often very transformative as it brings people from different cultures and backgrounds together as a community where everyone’s story is heard and celebrated, all under the umbrella of the universal power of music and words. To change the narrative about refugees and displaced populations, they invite us to participate in active dialogues with those willing to share their stories and learn to honor and respect them.
Tune in to listen to “I am a Word”, “I could be you, You could be me”, and “Open the Borders” - three incredible songs inspired by migration stories. Make sure to check their community-building project through music and poetry at guidingsong.com.