Elahi teaspoon tears Evandro castilla
sohan qiyam jehan de oh god almighty
sharpen the blade of my tongue so that i
concur the world with the sharpness of
my words often when a refugee like me
tells their story it has two parts
it begins with how grateful they are to
the host community and continues about
their dangerous journey why they had to
flee today I am going to share my
experience of crossing border from a
different prospective because it is not
only human body that travels but also
ideas language identity culture and
religion my story is a journey of words
I believe words have an enormous power
to unite and divide to inspire or cause
great suffering
the battle over words forced me to leave
my home country but words and books
helped me endure my journey here in
Trondheim I have developed a project
that uses words language and literature
to promote inclusion my passion for
words language and literature is rooted
in my childhood in my father’s teaching
I give you up reciting a poem of a
Persian philosopher from the 10th
century Nasser AHA’s Rao and that is how
the seeds of poetry were planted in my
life at the same time I had to watch
faito garb or a Dornish wig Egret buzzy
robbery charge anillo ferry rock if the
tree of your existence bears the fruit
of knowledge you will have the heavens
under your thumb
as a teenager I started engaging in
Afghanistan politics writing for local
newspapers in support of democracy equal
rights for women while also advocating
young people’s right he’s speaking up
for what I believe is right my last name
so Hanwha literally translate to a
speaker and this along with my passion
for human rights led me on a stage we
are in 2009 or I spoke to 50,000 people
in support of democracy and free
election we called for equal and
balanced development for all of
Afghanistan as well as the inclusion of
all ethnic groups at government level
however that country remained a long way
from holding free and fair elections
eight years later just one day after the
latest election in my home country I
stand in front of all of you once more
as a speaker once more is speaking about
inclusion but this time from a different
perspective my spoken words and writing
made Lea targets for fundamentalist
group fearing for my life I had to
Philly Afghanistan in 2013 and live all
my belongings and my loved ones behind
the only thing I could carry was my
knowledge and experience carrying a
baggage of words culture and love for
then I ended up in Norway here in Norway
I suddenly had a new identity an
immigrant and refugee my journey as an
immigrant in this country known for it
is human rights democracy and freedom
was tough to start with my main
challenge had to do again with words as
an asylum seekers I needed to prove my
identity in order to convince the
authorities that I was in danger but
since I could not speak Norwegian much
was lost in translation as an asylum
seeker you’re forced to share your
personal often painful frightening or
humilating stories with the strangers
who often cannot and sometimes do not
want us understand so I fought for two
years to obtain asylum failing on my
first attempt but winning on appium we
are I represented myself in English and
Norwegian something I was unable to do
but my initial hearing ultimately I
could express myself and the power of
words became my salvation learning the
line language was not easy but moving
into a new culture the challenges of
moving into a new culture did not stop
in the asylum hearing I wanted to share
my knowledge and experience with this
country and connect with the local
people that means that I needed to learn
Norwegian and improve my English as I
said learning the language was not easy
one makes a lot of mistake in the
process and it is up to us if we decide
to allow our mistake to put up barriers
between us or break them down
listen to these two Norwegian words
Boudreau and bedre don’t they sound
once I wrote an email in Norwegian
intending to promise that I would use my
education to contribute Vedra and
society but instead I said I would cheat
Society oops one word that really
becomes part of an immigrant identity is
integration it is a tricky concept it is
usually interpreted in a way that if you
dress in your traditional clothes or eat
something other than bread for lunch in
Norwegian case then you are not
considered integrated to most
integration mainly means assimilation
adopt a new culture and forget your own
following the refugee crisis many
well-intended initiatives were created
but the concept of upper and lower class
remains some programs are designed in a
way that the host community demonstrates
showing mercy on immigrants by talking
to them or participating in a small
activity ready-made one-size-fits-all
program do not help in terms of
promoting inclusion wouldn’t be better
to listen to new arrivals and give them
the chance to share their knowledge and
experience with the local community who
knows the needs and interest of
we have many countries represented in
imagine you travel to a new country with
a different culture language and
lifestyle being there think
a situation that results from an act of
kindness by locals but received
inappropriate and uncomfortable by you a
misinformed attempt to feel to make you
feel welcome now you would understand
how I felt when I saw a campaign on
Facebook hack a Muslim my first thought
what have I done or how do I appear that
people assume I need a hack or where do
they get this thought that all that
Muslims all Muslims would like to be
do understand the struggles it is almost
impossible to form an effective program
for immigrants even those from the same
backgrounds as individual or divided by
their political beliefs class and
religion among other things so how can
we best welcome immigrants in their new
home once more the answer is to use
language and literature there are
precious parts of identity that everyone
shares I’m here my passion for words
lead me to the literature for inclusion
initiative a platform that allows us to
inspire and learn from each other while
we celebrate our language snick heritage
why designed the literature for
inclusion in a way that it mirrors a
literary map of Trondheim
a city of diverse language prose and
poetry the project is based on diverse
takes that I read in different languages
from wildly contrasting cultures
the goal for this project is to bring
people together from different
backgrounds cultures and language to
literature we chose to add some other
form of arts such as music and
photograph in the program in the project
as well let me give you an example about
the power of words to connect back in
2015 I had a presentation in a primary
school outside Sondheim for kids in
grade five and six I showed them how the
Afghan kids had a lot in common with him
and what they were leaked in their
education system or what Afghanistan
leaked in its education system by
inviting them to experience my reality
the reality of Afghan children through
share with them my own childhood
memories when I was in grade six the
Taliban took power burned our books and
bound education for my sisters or when a
militia group occupied our school and
used it as their base the feedback was
amazing I received more than 40 letters
from those kids with their drawings and
thoughts on what they have learned from
the talk I gave one little by rote to
fit my tell Oh tinker pretend till you
you made me to think about the right to
go to school literature for inclusion is
an idea that many organizations and
professionals are collaborating with so
far we have organized nearly 30
different events and reached thousand
of people we hosted poetry Without
Borders a festival about feminism
Creative Writing course is Spanish and
immaterial literature and culture week
for each festival we held a series of
events including exhibition concerts
workshops film screening poetry night
public debates reading as well as
theater for children they Spanish they
Spanish literature and culture week
offered it is audience a literary and
cultural journey of his spanish-speaking
countries a journey through words
language and books exploring the
literary history of Zaragoza art in
Mexico migration from Latin America we
Hearst workshop discussing Norwegian and
Spanish expression and idioms every
other month through words and phrases
this takes participants on a parallel
journey of different dialects around
Norway in a corner of Barcelona a cafe
in Mexico a park in Oregon
or a garden in Colombia one of my most
vivid memory is now from the ear Italian
literature and culture week we hosted
last month among many other programs we
had poetry night we are some materials
recited their oral poetry and how this
form of poetry have played an important
role in shaping their culture and
history they have a special form of
poetry that our rate at wedding or
mourning ceremonies at the part of the
event we had an open mic session
allowing participants to express their
illustration as well so our program
ended up with the cetacean of
oral poetry not just from Eritrea but in
other countries were represented in the
audience too we have scheduled an Arabic
literature and culture week next month a
week that will not only explore the
language and literature but also Arabic
alphabet making a new connection or
opening a connection with 420 million
people on earth we speak Arabic the main
language for our platform or Norwegian
and English when needed we invite
translators we want everyone to have the
opportunity to participate and
understand the audience is a world mix
of people from different cultures and
countries represented in turn Heim and
different levels of our community last
Saturday we hosted a reading and theater
for children in Spanish it may come as a
surprise birth next to people from
different countries represented in
trondheim around 20 percent of our
believe there is a profound need for
this project in our city and region due
to the diversity of ADA citizens
background culture and belief so we can
learn from unvalued human differences my
idea is not to represent or describe the
immigrant community but to create a
portal where they can express themselves
in their own words brother having others
to talk on their behalf
to achieve true inclusion I have invited
all institutions and professionals who
are involved in integral
to collaborate this is because
integration works better if communities
work together and especially if the host
community agrees to meet people of other
cultures and find out more about them in
this way we can share great gift each
other the very best and most noble parts
of our culture can be enriching to those
whose minds are open so my objective for
this project is to go beyond integration
away from be like us
towards inclusion be yourself I hope
this project will highlight our common
values talk openly about our heritage
and go beyond labels such as immigrant a
stranger or refugee focus on community
mutual respect and diversity and
pluralism through this sabzi Azadi view
it in Jehan ro novice Azam biome a
soldier or body Buren cepa’s bow humbly
bow mera Bonnie through this sabzi oz or
the vahanam the green song of freedom
let us build this world from the
beginning to deliver the message of
peace and prosperity and then with
empathy and kindness we all sing the
green song of freedom thank you [Applause]
sohan qiyam jehan de oh god almighty
sharpen the blade of my tongue so that i
concur the world with the sharpness of
my words often when a refugee like me
tells their story it has two parts
it begins with how grateful they are to
the host community and continues about
their dangerous journey why they had to
flee today I am going to share my
experience of crossing border from a
different prospective because it is not
only human body that travels but also
ideas language identity culture and
religion my story is a journey of words
I believe words have an enormous power
to unite and divide to inspire or cause
great suffering
the battle over words forced me to leave
my home country but words and books
helped me endure my journey here in
Trondheim I have developed a project
that uses words language and literature
to promote inclusion my passion for
words language and literature is rooted
in my childhood in my father’s teaching
I give you up reciting a poem of a
Persian philosopher from the 10th
century Nasser AHA’s Rao and that is how
the seeds of poetry were planted in my
life at the same time I had to watch
faito garb or a Dornish wig Egret buzzy
robbery charge anillo ferry rock if the
tree of your existence bears the fruit
of knowledge you will have the heavens
under your thumb
as a teenager I started engaging in
Afghanistan politics writing for local
newspapers in support of democracy equal
rights for women while also advocating
young people’s right he’s speaking up
for what I believe is right my last name
so Hanwha literally translate to a
speaker and this along with my passion
for human rights led me on a stage we
are in 2009 or I spoke to 50,000 people
in support of democracy and free
election we called for equal and
balanced development for all of
Afghanistan as well as the inclusion of
all ethnic groups at government level
however that country remained a long way
from holding free and fair elections
eight years later just one day after the
latest election in my home country I
stand in front of all of you once more
as a speaker once more is speaking about
inclusion but this time from a different
perspective my spoken words and writing
made Lea targets for fundamentalist
group fearing for my life I had to
Philly Afghanistan in 2013 and live all
my belongings and my loved ones behind
the only thing I could carry was my
knowledge and experience carrying a
baggage of words culture and love for
then I ended up in Norway here in Norway
I suddenly had a new identity an
immigrant and refugee my journey as an
immigrant in this country known for it
is human rights democracy and freedom
was tough to start with my main
challenge had to do again with words as
an asylum seekers I needed to prove my
identity in order to convince the
authorities that I was in danger but
since I could not speak Norwegian much
was lost in translation as an asylum
seeker you’re forced to share your
personal often painful frightening or
humilating stories with the strangers
who often cannot and sometimes do not
want us understand so I fought for two
years to obtain asylum failing on my
first attempt but winning on appium we
are I represented myself in English and
Norwegian something I was unable to do
but my initial hearing ultimately I
could express myself and the power of
words became my salvation learning the
line language was not easy but moving
into a new culture the challenges of
moving into a new culture did not stop
in the asylum hearing I wanted to share
my knowledge and experience with this
country and connect with the local
people that means that I needed to learn
Norwegian and improve my English as I
said learning the language was not easy
one makes a lot of mistake in the
process and it is up to us if we decide
to allow our mistake to put up barriers
between us or break them down
listen to these two Norwegian words
Boudreau and bedre don’t they sound
once I wrote an email in Norwegian
intending to promise that I would use my
education to contribute Vedra and
society but instead I said I would cheat
Society oops one word that really
becomes part of an immigrant identity is
integration it is a tricky concept it is
usually interpreted in a way that if you
dress in your traditional clothes or eat
something other than bread for lunch in
Norwegian case then you are not
considered integrated to most
integration mainly means assimilation
adopt a new culture and forget your own
following the refugee crisis many
well-intended initiatives were created
but the concept of upper and lower class
remains some programs are designed in a
way that the host community demonstrates
showing mercy on immigrants by talking
to them or participating in a small
activity ready-made one-size-fits-all
program do not help in terms of
promoting inclusion wouldn’t be better
to listen to new arrivals and give them
the chance to share their knowledge and
experience with the local community who
knows the needs and interest of
we have many countries represented in
imagine you travel to a new country with
a different culture language and
lifestyle being there think
a situation that results from an act of
kindness by locals but received
inappropriate and uncomfortable by you a
misinformed attempt to feel to make you
feel welcome now you would understand
how I felt when I saw a campaign on
Facebook hack a Muslim my first thought
what have I done or how do I appear that
people assume I need a hack or where do
they get this thought that all that
Muslims all Muslims would like to be
do understand the struggles it is almost
impossible to form an effective program
for immigrants even those from the same
backgrounds as individual or divided by
their political beliefs class and
religion among other things so how can
we best welcome immigrants in their new
home once more the answer is to use
language and literature there are
precious parts of identity that everyone
shares I’m here my passion for words
lead me to the literature for inclusion
initiative a platform that allows us to
inspire and learn from each other while
we celebrate our language snick heritage
why designed the literature for
inclusion in a way that it mirrors a
literary map of Trondheim
a city of diverse language prose and
poetry the project is based on diverse
takes that I read in different languages
from wildly contrasting cultures
the goal for this project is to bring
people together from different
backgrounds cultures and language to
literature we chose to add some other
form of arts such as music and
photograph in the program in the project
as well let me give you an example about
the power of words to connect back in
2015 I had a presentation in a primary
school outside Sondheim for kids in
grade five and six I showed them how the
Afghan kids had a lot in common with him
and what they were leaked in their
education system or what Afghanistan
leaked in its education system by
inviting them to experience my reality
the reality of Afghan children through
share with them my own childhood
memories when I was in grade six the
Taliban took power burned our books and
bound education for my sisters or when a
militia group occupied our school and
used it as their base the feedback was
amazing I received more than 40 letters
from those kids with their drawings and
thoughts on what they have learned from
the talk I gave one little by rote to
fit my tell Oh tinker pretend till you
you made me to think about the right to
go to school literature for inclusion is
an idea that many organizations and
professionals are collaborating with so
far we have organized nearly 30
different events and reached thousand
of people we hosted poetry Without
Borders a festival about feminism
Creative Writing course is Spanish and
immaterial literature and culture week
for each festival we held a series of
events including exhibition concerts
workshops film screening poetry night
public debates reading as well as
theater for children they Spanish they
Spanish literature and culture week
offered it is audience a literary and
cultural journey of his spanish-speaking
countries a journey through words
language and books exploring the
literary history of Zaragoza art in
Mexico migration from Latin America we
Hearst workshop discussing Norwegian and
Spanish expression and idioms every
other month through words and phrases
this takes participants on a parallel
journey of different dialects around
Norway in a corner of Barcelona a cafe
in Mexico a park in Oregon
or a garden in Colombia one of my most
vivid memory is now from the ear Italian
literature and culture week we hosted
last month among many other programs we
had poetry night we are some materials
recited their oral poetry and how this
form of poetry have played an important
role in shaping their culture and
history they have a special form of
poetry that our rate at wedding or
mourning ceremonies at the part of the
event we had an open mic session
allowing participants to express their
illustration as well so our program
ended up with the cetacean of
oral poetry not just from Eritrea but in
other countries were represented in the
audience too we have scheduled an Arabic
literature and culture week next month a
week that will not only explore the
language and literature but also Arabic
alphabet making a new connection or
opening a connection with 420 million
people on earth we speak Arabic the main
language for our platform or Norwegian
and English when needed we invite
translators we want everyone to have the
opportunity to participate and
understand the audience is a world mix
of people from different cultures and
countries represented in turn Heim and
different levels of our community last
Saturday we hosted a reading and theater
for children in Spanish it may come as a
surprise birth next to people from
different countries represented in
trondheim around 20 percent of our
believe there is a profound need for
this project in our city and region due
to the diversity of ADA citizens
background culture and belief so we can
learn from unvalued human differences my
idea is not to represent or describe the
immigrant community but to create a
portal where they can express themselves
in their own words brother having others
to talk on their behalf
to achieve true inclusion I have invited
all institutions and professionals who
are involved in integral
to collaborate this is because
integration works better if communities
work together and especially if the host
community agrees to meet people of other
cultures and find out more about them in
this way we can share great gift each
other the very best and most noble parts
of our culture can be enriching to those
whose minds are open so my objective for
this project is to go beyond integration
away from be like us
towards inclusion be yourself I hope
this project will highlight our common
values talk openly about our heritage
and go beyond labels such as immigrant a
stranger or refugee focus on community
mutual respect and diversity and
pluralism through this sabzi Azadi view
it in Jehan ro novice Azam biome a
soldier or body Buren cepa’s bow humbly
bow mera Bonnie through this sabzi oz or
the vahanam the green song of freedom
let us build this world from the
beginning to deliver the message of
peace and prosperity and then with
empathy and kindness we all sing the
green song of freedom thank you [Applause]
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