This story is part of our series on community gardens. There are hundreds of community gardens in the New York City area and we’re telling some of their stories. We’ll end the series on Sept. 8 with a live broadcast from Hattie Carthan Community Garden in Bed-Stuy on WNYC. Listen on 93.9 FM or wnyc.org.
Just after sunset on a recent Saturday a handful of migrants settled into chairs on a sidewalk abutting a community garden in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and prepared for movie night.
The night’s selection was a 2012 film, “War Witch,” about a 12-year-old girl in an unnamed African country who is forced to become a child soldier. Both the garden space and the film connected with the audience in a special way.
“We love the garden because we can cook our traditional foods, and after a long day of getting rejected from job after job and just struggling, it’s nice to sit with our brothers and watch a movie, and eat,” said Oumar Barry, 27, a migrant from Mauritania, in Northwest Africa, speaking in French through an interpreter. “And it reminds us of home.”
Barry’s been staying at a city-run respite center across the street for nearly two months, along with hundreds of other migrants, most struggling to find their footing in the city. Their experience has been somewhat eased by volunteers at Bushwick City Farm, who have used the garden to help feed and entertain the migrants, provided them with prayer mats and portable toilets, and found neighborhood residents who were willing to let the newcomers shower in their nearby homes.
Asylum seekers staying in a city-run respite center at 359 Stockton St. received help from neighborhood residents, who offered use of the showers in their homes. They also welcomed the migrants at the Bushwick City Farm across the street, where they share the community space, enjoy and prepare meals, and past the time.
Arun Venugopal / Gothamist
“I think the unwritten history in the making of this country right now, as the economy is…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply