Omid Qarizade, 24, left Afghanistan to escape conflict and seek a better future.

Dear John, 

Picture a refugee: what do you see?

Most photographs show people who are cold, hungry or scared. And while these images show the reality for many refugees and displaced people right now, they don’t tell the full story.

Behind the cameras
Let us tell you about a project that’s equipping young refugees with a camera and enabling them to share their own stories of resilience, as well as the courage to dream.

One organization, reFOCUS Media labs, taught refugees in Lesvos (Greece) filmmaking and photography. Many of those students are now using cameras to highlight problems in their home countries, tell the stories of other refugees, and empower women who’ve escaped oppression.

Zahra Mojahed, who fled Afghanistan when she was five, shot all the images in this email. She says:

“My dream is to be a photographer and filmmaker as an Afghan woman – to show people, and to show to girls and women in Afghanistan, that women can do everything.”

UNHCR is empowering refugees
At UNHCR, we also are handing over the camera (and the pen, and the microphone)! The UNHCR Journalist Mentorship Programme trains refugees, internally displaced and stateless people in both journalism and advocacy. The three-month programme offers sessions on everything from how to start a podcast to how to become an effective public speaker – delivered by the some of the world’s top journalists and academics.

This exciting initiative places UNHCR at the forefront of a worldwide shift taking place in media and the corporate and non-profit sectors toward greater diversity in storytelling.

Thank you,

Breno Valentini
International Supporter Care
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency

P.S. Don’t forget that you can get regular UNHCR and refugee updates via our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages