1. Gallery Slideshow Photography BRYCS would like to express our deep appreciation to the dedicated teachers and service providers who suggested the wonderful artists and art works featured here. BRYCS is project of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops/Migration and Refugee Services (USCCB/MRS) Click to move to the next slide

2. New Eyes on Our New Hometown: The Birth of My Nephew (Photograph) - Alexis – Mexican-American, age 18 Kentucky Youth Advocates My name is Alexis. I was born in Chicago, Illinois and my dad took me to Mexico when I was 8 months old. He brought me back when I was 12 and I have been in the USA for 4 years and in Louisville for 2 years. I’m a senior in high school. I’m interested in computers and anything that has to do with technology. My photograph is titled: “New Eyes on Our New Hometown: The Birth of My Nephew”.

3. Faith Transcends the Waters (Photograph) – Yasmani - Cuba, age 15 Kentucky Youth Advocates My name is Yasmani and I am a 9th grader at Iroquois High School. I came from Cuba and I’m 15 years old. I have been living in Louisville, Kentucky for 7 years. I like where I’m living. Every one is friendly and really nice. It’s a beautiful city with a lot of opportunities that you should take advantage of. Also there are so many things to enjoy! I liked that we were able to take pictures and actually do something with them like posting them at the Pegasus Gallery at the Louisville International Airport for all to see. My photograph is titled “Faith Transcends the Waters”

4. My name is Duua. I’m from Iraq. I have been in Louisville, KY for 5 years and I’m a student at Iroquois High School. In addition, I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters. I like to read and I love photographing. What I liked about this project is that it gave us a chance to show our city and the things that mean a lot to each one of us. We expressed ourselves by shooting pictures of things we like and are meaningful to us. My photograph is titled: “Torn between Turmoil and Tranquility: coping with a new life in Louisville while family remains in Iraq.” My mother had just spoken to my brother, who is in Iraq, and could hear bombs going off in the background. Torn Between Turmoil and Tranquility: Coping with a New Life in Louisville While Family Remains in Iraq (Photograph) – Duua – Iraq, Age 17 Kentucky Youth Advocates

5. My name is Ngoc and I have been in Louisville for two and a half years now. Since I came to the United States alone at the age of sixteen, I had a hard time adjusting to the new environment. Nevertheless, I’m glad that I had come to Louisville because I feel very welcomed as a “Newcomer” to the country and especially to Louisville. People here are amicable and generous. The environment is always safe and fresh with green trees everywhere. That’s the reason I am very grateful to be involved in the “Voices from the ‘Ville” program of Kentucky Youth Advocates. Not only I have a lot of fun carrying out the project, but also have a chance to express the sense of secure and free I feel living in the city through my photographs. The program was really interesting and I enjoyed my time working on the project. Not only I had a chance to take a lot of pictures of Louisville, my New Hometown, but I also got a chance to get professional feedback to make them even better. Knowing that my opinion of our city expressed in my pictures is treasured by viewers makes the program even more meaningful to me. I am sincerely grateful to be a part of the project. My photograph is titled “Growth in the Midst of Adversity” and for me represents a mirror to life in the US as a young refugee. Growth in the Midst of Diversity (Photograph) - Ngoc – Vietnam, Age 18 Kentucky Youth Advocates

6. Awer Bul – Sudan, age 24 (http://www.awerbul.net/) Virginia Commonwealth University Greetings, My name is Awer G. Bul, born in 1983 and raised in the bush. I say this because I grew up in the midst of the Sudanese civil war. I am one of the Lost Boys from Sudan and Art saved my life. Since we were denied to go to school, I did not know of any other ways I could tell my story except by using a universal language. I would define Art as a universal language of all the people around the world. I started Art when I was at least six years old, one year before the war came to my village. I was using the simplest of traditional art materials as I would burn cow dung to produce the color white, and grind charcoal to get black. My main canvas was just the mud wall in my house and my fingers were my paint brushes. When I was 7 years old I fled by myself; without my parents, to Uganda and then Kenya where I encountered similar instability and insecurity as in Sudan. I lived in Kenya for at least six years eating one meal a day and lacking health care. With how much I suffered, I did not know if I would survive the war. Growing up in Africa, I thought America was only for rich people and the chances of going there was impossible for someone who was poor like me. Because of my art skills though, I was one of the lucky boys who was given a chance that I didn’t think was possible – coming to America. Since I could not speak English I used my art skills to communicate my story to international aid workers in my refugee camp in Kenya. They blessed me with the opportunity to come to America because of my drawings, even though I had not previously qualified for relocation (only refugees who had arrived in 1992 were qualified for relocation at the time and I did not arrive in the camp until 1994.) With the help and greatness of the United States, I was gracefully accepted here in my adopted country. I came to Richmond, VA in December 2000 and shortly thereafter started attending J.R. Tucker High School and working at the local grocery store - Food Lion. I am now a sophomore at Virginia Commonwealth University and a full-time Art student majoring in painting and printmaking with plans to double major in kinetic imaging. It is very important that people know that I believe helping others is a natural extension of myself like my Art. I am always working to improve myself, and through my Art I have been able to deal with traumas from the atrocities of war, separation from my family, the loss of my home and homeland, and the poor conditions of refugee camp life. When I do art I feel like I have let out all things that are in me. Art is a way for me to respond and to give. Regards, Awer G. Bul 2006

7. Caller of Bulls (Photograph) – Awer Bul – Sudan, age 24 Virginia Commonwealth University Awer Bul, is a young Sudanese artist currently completing a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts and Communication at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. His Web site displays his paintings, photographs, and a short documentary titled “Living in Exile,” which the artist states “deals with transformation, not only in mind and body, but also in location and spirit.” His web site, showing more of his fine work, is http://www.awerbul.net/.

8. Akuot (Photograph) – Awer Bul - Sudan, age 24 Virginia Commonwealth University Awer Bul, is a young Sudanese artist currently completing a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts and Communication at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. His Web site displays his paintings, photographs, and a short documentary titled “Living in Exile,” which the artist states “deals with transformation, not only in mind and body, but also in location and spirit.” His web site, showing more of his fine work, is http://www.awerbul.net/.

9. Copyright restrictions USCCB has obtained written permission to publish the art work, biographical sketches and photographs of all the young artists featured in the BRYCS Youth Arts and Voices Web Page. Commercial use or publication of all or any item displayed is strictly prohibited without prior authorization from USCCB. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as conferring any license by USCCB to use any item displayed. Documents may be copied for personal use only on the condition that copyright and source indications are also copied, no modifications are made and the document is copied entirely. However, some documents, art work, and photos have been published on this site with the permission of the relevant copyright owners (who are not USCCB). All rights are reserved on these documents and permission to copy them must be requested from the copyright owners (the sources are indicated within these documents/photographs). USCCB takes no responsibility for the content of external Internet sites. Other websites that we link to are owned and operated by third parties and USCCB has no control over them. The fact that we include links to other websites does not mean that USCCB approves of or endorses any other third party website or the content of that website. We accept no liability for any statements, information, products or services that are published on or are accessible through any websites owned or operated by third parties.