Young student immigrants share experiences through theater

ST. LOUIS -- The teens are dancing in an Indian disco when loud booms announce the arrival of soldiers who drag one of the dancers away.

"We have to help her," one girl says to a friend, but the friend runs off to make sure her family is safe.

The scene, part of the "Pictures of My Culture" show performed by young refugees and immigrants living in St. Louis, is not the happiest. But the performers are trying to portray their lives and memories, memories they say are filled with joy and pain.

"Something like that has probably happened to a lot of them," said Anne Farina, director of youth services for the Center for Survivors of Torture and War Trauma in St. Louis. The center sponsors the Refugee Youth Performing Arts Club as well as other activities for refugees and immigrants.

The young actors, ages 12 to 18, are from a half-dozen countries, many of which have seen war and strife in recent years: Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Liberia. In the show, they recall frightening experiences like that of the soldiers breaking into the disco and pleasant ones such as their funniest memory or the sharing of a good meal.

In another scene, set after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a boy is surrounded by other kids who take his ball and tell him he looks like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. In another, a Vietnamese immigrant becomes a stand-up comedian and gets his revenge on the kids who always seem to assume he's Chinese.

The inspiration is everything -- "my life, things that happen at school, friends, enemies," said Phong Tran, 15, who left Vietnam when he was 2.

The performance is an opportunity for about a dozen young actors to share their experiences with others and an attempt to start the healing process.

"It means a lot to make people understand where I'm coming from," said Hawa Tambodou, a refugee from Sierra Leone who has lived in the United States for almost six years after her family fled civil war there. "We made this song about how people are suffering and how people were killed, things I saw and experienced."

The show is also a vehicle for dreams. The comedy routine, the rapping, the daydreaming about being an actress someday -- all reflect the aspirations of the performers. They do have aspirations, they said, and aren't lazy or living off the government as some other kids sometimes accuse them of doing.

The actors acknowledged some nerves before a recent dress rehearsal. Farina reassured them that they would do well and the audience would be people who wanted to hear their stories.

"It takes a lot of courage," Farina said. "We try to create a small safe environment for them, and we consider the show an extension of that."