Older People's Activities
Long-distance husbands and fathers
Some couples had been apart for up to four years before being reunited
in Britain. Do you remember your hopes and fears for the marriage when
you arrived here in Britain? And how did your children react to long-lost
fathers? Can you write or say some of the things you felt at the time,
and probably were not able to share with any one.
My first room
Ask the older people where they lived when they first came to Britain.
Can they draw a small floor plan to show you what they had in their first
flat or room and how many people were sharing with them.
Longing for home cooking
When some of the story-tellers first came it was difficult to find familiar
foods to cook. Cooking was often in a shared kitchen, so they to wait
for others to finish before they could begin. What foods and spices did
the group members miss most when they came and how did they adapt to the
difficult situation of cooking for themselves in an over-crowded space?
A fireside setting
Any work I could get
Many people had to take jobs well below their skill levels when they first
arrived. Was this also true for members of the group? Ask people to share
their memories of their early work experiences in this country.
Language barriers
Many people had language problems and could only mix with people from
their own country. How many members of the group tried to learn English
when they came to Britain and how far did they progress? How much of a
problem has this been in their daily lives here? See how many languages
the group speak altogether and list them.
The room had mysteriously gone
Racism was often not overt, but nevertheless people knew there was discrimination,
especially over the matter of housing. Ask members of the group to share
experiences of being accepted or refused as tenants and how they coped
with this situation. Maybe ask two or three of the group to act out a
remembered experience.
back to top ^^
Young People's Activities
This is your father
Some of our story-tellers were bringing children who had not seen their
fathers and would have to get to know them in this strange country. Can
you speak out loud some of the thoughts of these children who were going
to see their fathers for the first time. If each person says one line,
the class can make a joint poem around these feelings.
A changed person?
Some husbands had had to adapt their clothes and hairstyles to meet British
regulations so they looked quite different. From Mrs Avtar Bilkhu's story
can you draw a picture of her husband before he left India and how he
looked when she arrived in England some years later.
Paved with gold?
One noticeable thread is people's surprise and often disappointment when
they arrived in Britain. Brought up on English history, culture and literature,
many immigrants were shocked to find dirt and poverty in Britain. Their
expectations of streets paved with gold were far from fulfilled and they
often had to settle for accommodation in the poorest parts of town.
Imagine, if you can, what it must have been like to come from a warm
fertile place where you and your family were known and respected, to a
cold unknown land where you could not find your bearings.
A letter home
Write a letter home which you know you will not post, because you would
not wish to worry your parents. Put in it all the things you would like
to say, and then write a very different, much shorter letter containing
what you would be willing to post home.
There'll always be a welcome?
When you hear the older people's stories about their early years here,
do you feel that Britain has improved its response to new immigrants?
Can you find any newspaper reports of the arrival of Caribbean immigrants
in the early 1950s through your local library or on the Internet and compare
them with what the tabloid newspapers are printing today about incomers.
Sorry, the room has gone
Many story-tellers report on discrimination in housing. They were told
rooms were available but, when they arrived, the accommodation was suddenly
mysteriously full. Act out a scene in which this occurs. You could try
to play it again with two people representing each character: one person
saying what was actually said and the other saying what he or she felt
but could not say.
Nurses needed
Look at the pictures of nurses in their uniform. Many of the immigrants
who came here in the 1950s and 60s went into public services such as health
and transport. They had to wear the same uniforms as everyone else. Perhaps
this helped others to see them as contributors in areas where they were
needed. What skills are we short of in Britain today? How can we help
new immigrants to integrate?
Irma Reid, who came from Trinidad to work as a nurse
Come and join us
Design a poster campaign to attract workers to Britain to help in particular
trades where there is a shortage of skilled workers, including plumbing
and electrical work, teaching and medicine.
back to top ^^
© Age Exchange 2006
|
