Syrian Refugees Begin Digital Media Workshop at Trinity College

Six displaced people from Syria have begun a digital media workshop at the CONNECT Centre in Trinity College Dublin. The six participants – from the Abbeyfield Reception Centre in Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon, and Mosney direct provision centre in County Meath – will learn to create digital content as part of the Ismani programme, which is funded by the online video platform ALTV.com, a subsidiary of Granahan McCourt Capital, and CONNECT – the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Future Networks in Trinity College.

The Ismani Project Coordinator, Mai ElMahdy, worked previously with Facebook in Dublin and also volunteered earlier this year to work as a translator at a refugee camp in Greece. Also working on the Ismani programme is Isolda Heavey, a documentary film-maker and teacher who has just spent a year working with refugees in Calais. She is the curriculum designer and tutor for the workshop.

Speaking of the project, Cairo-native ElMahdy commented: “The participants have experienced huge upheaval in their lives: all six arrived in Ireland within the past year. This two-week workshop is intended to help them to think of the future and provide an introduction to a new skill which will assist their career development. By the end of the workshop I hope they will have become independent content creators and will be able to use this skill to pursue their own individual interests.”

Pictured above: Participants of the Ismani programme
Photo credit: Paul Sharp/Sharppix