Uni High, in collaboration with WILL, present the following documentary:
Immigrants’ Journeys: Challenges and Opportunities in Champaign-Urbana explores individual immigrants’ journeys to central Illinois as well as the journeys of people who came to be vocal advocates for immigrants’ rights.
Hear the stories of Champaign-Urbana residents Lucia Maldonado and Ricardo Diaz from Mexico, Carmen Loor from El Salvador, Gloria Yen, whose father came from Taiwan, Susan Ogwal from Uganda, Anh Ha Ho from Vietnam, Faranak Miraftab from Iran, and Prosper Panumpabi from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Advocates stories from Mike Doyle, Bob Kirby, Ben Mueller, Father Tom Royer, Claire Szoke, Alexandra Van Doren, Ann Abbott and Gloria Yen.
Through these stories, listeners will better understand why people immigrate, the hardships and opportunities they may encounter in the process, and the transformative power of human connection beyond borders. These experiences can help us better understand the past and present of Champaign County, as well as its connection to large changes and conflicts in the wider world.
Interviews with the subjects were conducted in 2018.
War. Poverty. Politics. Economic and educational opportunities. These are some of the reasons people from around the world have come to central Illinois as asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants. Hear their stories of overcoming and persevering in Immigrants' Journeys: Challenges and Opportunities in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois a new documentary by Uni High.
Starting as a young activist in Iran, Professor Faranak Miraftab has overcome many trials and tribulations in her life, finding asylum in Norway at age 23 and eventually coming to Champaign-Urbana.
Prosper Panumpabi has always offered help to those who need it. Since coming to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo with his wife and six children over 15 years ago, he has worked hard to support other immigrants in their journeys to find a new home.
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Ben Mueller of Champaign, Illinois discusses his journey as an immigrant advocate, during which he’s done everything from getting a Spanish-speaking radio program off the ground to organizing protests.
Professor Ann Abbott talks about how her role as an educator has brought her into close contact with students of DACA status, as well as how she teaches people to challenge the idea of the USA as a monolingual nation.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
