OUR EXPERIENCES

Ruth Hartcher O’Brien, Treehouse Theatre & Miller IEC

“I have had the absolute privilege of working with newly arrived high school-aged students for over 20 years, at Miller Intensive English Centre: with migrants, international students and refugees, as an English (TESOL) and Drama teacher. These students are all adjusting to life in a strange new country, and to greater and lesser extents, mourning lost lives. Prior to my time in the IEC I was (a casual teacher and) a Theatre-In-Education performer, and a storyteller, as well as a mother. The value of story and drama as a means of teaching and engaging … and the healing aspect of performance had become increasingly clear as I worked in the IEC. So in 2005, starting the Lifelines performances with each class in the IEC telling true personal stories, was a logical step. There were 4 whole IEC performances, all suffixed with “…lines” (Lifelines, Heartlines, Storylines, Starlines). Refugee students cried their gratitude at telling their stories, and non-refugee students expressed dumbfounded amazement at their classmates’ experiences. Catherine Maguire-Donvito had become a friend and an expert in trauma-recovery in this time, so when she suggested that we partner up for “Tree of Life: Young Refugees Tell Their Stories” in 2010, it was yes, yes, yes! That affirmation has grown each year, as, time after time, we see the multiple benefits that flow from the program, for refugees and other Aussies.”

Poem about Doonside HS teacher ‘Our Teacher’