top of page
This is intended to be a live, interactive website. We invite you to take part in the conversation and help build this repository by sharing your own experiences as and with newcomers through artwork, essays, reports, photos, short stories, and poetry about refugee life in San Diego.
Diana Calderon
Growth through Resiliency and Resettlement
Digital Collage
Commentary on the Border Crises in San Diego
Why does the border crises exist and how can we fix it?
7 views0 comments
Ball Pit
A muted twist on childlike wonder to pay homage to immigrants and refugees within the Otay Mesa Detention Center.
2 views0 comments
Urban Connections
Abstract watercolor painting featuring Chicano Park, with the park being depicted in bright colors to represent the heart of the community..
1 view0 comments
Flying to New Heights: A Journey to America
The tough journey from Vietnam to America, filled with hardships, shows how strong my family is and honors my mom’s unwavering determination
2 views0 comments
The Horn of San Diego
This contribution highlights the East African organization UWEAST and its role in my upbringing as a children of immigrant Kenyan parents.
2 views0 comments
UCSD and the Refugee Community in San Diego
The separation and unawareness overall UCSD students have with the refugee community in San Diego.
3 views0 comments
The Impact of Spreading Refugee Knowledge
This artwork aims to demonstrate the value of the education of refugee life in San Diego and how knowledge is a powerful tool that allows...
23 views0 comments
From Lagos to Chula Vista
From winning a Visa lottery to navigating cultural contrasts and financial constraints, my mom’s experiences have shaped an intricate nar...
0 views0 comments
A Beacon of Amal
A tribute to Little Amal's walk across San Diego, and how she brings hope and resilience wherever she goes.
2 views0 comments
Platicas & Painting
Platicas & Painting is the title of a project I worked on with my abuelito, a refugee who left everything behind in his small pueblo in...
0 views0 comments
How Dầu Became a Symbol of Healing and Love
Learning what dầu was and having to apply it to my life in the U.S. was intimidating, but I've learned to embrace it and appreciate my...
1 view0 comments
Rotary Echo: A Call for Justice
The phone - a call to Justice surrounding the Otay Mesa Detention Center.
40 views0 comments
Vietnamese Coffee Culture: A Reflection and Photo Essay on Coffee and San Diego’s Vietnamese Community
A reflection about how coffee is a socializing tool for the Vietnamese community, drawing on my own experiences.
32 views0 comments
Space BY and FOR Refugee Communities in San Diego
This zine sheds light on the services and opportunities of diverse San Diego based refugee organizations.
25 views0 comments
Welcome to San Diego - Refugee Life
San Diego as we know it is perceived different to immigrant individuals who have been detained.
37 views0 comments
Mixture of Cultures
This piece intends to highlight the diversity in San Diego by showing that there are multiple different refugee communities residing here.
12 views0 comments
Vision of Migrants Detained
Depicting the struggles migrants face when seeking asylum and a re-imagination of the changes that would facilitate migrants to seek asylum.
12 views0 comments
"Seeking Asylum" and San Diego
Connections from the documentary "Seeking Asylum: A Mother’s Journey" to the challenges refugees are confronted with in San Diego
13 views0 comments
Ladder, Flower, & World
focusing on refugee personhood by presenting cheeriness, hope, and perseverance through the symbolism of a flower, a family, and ladder.
10 views0 comments
Honoring Carlos Escobar MejÃa
A 2-D Altar collage dedicated to Carlos Ernesto Escobar MejÃa, who passed away in ICE custody in 2020 due to inhumane conditions.
12 views0 comments
The Children
Explores how we can use the shared fight to bridge the gaps created by borders, the borders that create refugees, from the river to the sea.
9 views0 comments
Waiting for Nothing
The artwork attempts to reflect part of refugees' prolonged struggles, depicted in oil and acrylic paints on canvas.
11 views0 comments
Journey to a better life
A collage that depicts a migrants journey through 5 simple photographs.
11 views0 comments
Hmong People in San Diego
This project is about the Hmong People's lives in the United States and San Diego
11 views0 comments
Voices from the Margins: My Journey to Jacumba Detention Camp
This paper documented my experience in Jacumba Dentention camp.
5 views0 comments
The Universal Language
A visual representation of the most culturally significant sport on the planet
6 views0 comments
A People’s Guide to San Diego: Supporting Refugee-Owned Restaurants
A collection of refugee owned and operated restaurants created for people searching for authentic cuisine.
97 views0 comments
A SpaceTime Tour of Chicano Park
A short photo essay on a journey through the history of Barrio Logan and Chicano Park.
61 views0 comments
Lessons from The Kitchenistas of San Diego
In this commentary, I look at lessons learned from the documentary "The Kitchenistas of National City"
34 views0 comments
Photo Essay: Afghan Refugees and Kabul Kabob House
refugee-owned restaurant 'Kabul Kabob House' brings forth Afghan culture and cuisine to the city of El Cajon.
63 views0 comments
From The River To The Sea, Palestine Will Be Free
This contribution showcases my family's journey of immigrating from Ramallah, Palestine to San Diego and uplifts their story.
316 views0 comments
Refugee Healing
With collective power in refugee mental health healing comes light.
91 views0 comments
Refugee Spaces: Gentrification and City Heights
This zine discusses gentrification that is moving into City Heights and beginning to displace refugees, refugee spaces and others.
85 views0 comments
Know That What Has Come to You Could Not Have Missed You
An Oral History Narrative of an Afghan refugee in San Diego
30 views0 comments
The Activist East African Taxi Drivers of San Diego
Contextualizes the predominance of East Africans as taxi drivers in San Diego, the organizing work of the United Taxi Workers of San Diego.
35 views0 comments
LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers
A short overview of some issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community of asylum seekers and refugees.
83 views0 comments
Chaldean Refugee Women Experiences
An interview with a recent SDSU Chaldean woman graduate who was born and raised in Iraq was displaced due to political unrest, and...
84 views0 comments
How can San Diego improve the pre-migration conditions of LGBTQI+ international migrants?
This paper looks at Biden's recent memorandum regarding LGBTQI+ international migrants and offers recommendations
33 views0 comments
Share the Plate: Forming Refugee Community Across Generations
We explore how centering experiences of food, cooking and communal spaces allows for the fostering of culture and healing in San Diego
15 views0 comments
"We left with a hole in the boat" - An Oral History
An audio oral history recording that follows the journey of Katalina , who arrived in the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975.
31 views0 comments
A Short Guide to Barrio Logan
While not everything on the block is included, here is a small look at what can be found in Barrio Logan.
15 views0 comments
Vision of Refugee Healing
A painting documenting an interview on refugee community healing.
50 views0 comments
Internationally Delicious: A Photo Collection
A photo of the diversity of San Diego's two International Markets.
12 views0 comments
Roots Garden: A History in the Making
City Heights Roots Garden is one of the original sites of a national community garden project. The City Heights Garden is comprised of 89...
19 views0 comments
Two Borders
A re-imagination of the San Ysidro Border that facilitates free passage. The inspiration for this work was an image of the San Ysidro...
32 views0 comments
Tshe82
A silver-white Toyota Corolla '82 that was a lifeline to my family in resettling in San Diego. My parents' resettlement experience was...
283 views0 comments
A Friendly Afternoon in La Cocina de Anita
Experiencing Mexican culture and community through the food and environment of an authentic Mexican restaurant. The inspiration behind my...
30 views0 comments
Ending Title 42: The Importance of Returning the United States to Universal Human Rights
An essay on the importance of ending the use of title 42 to expel asylum seekers. Icon image credit: Michael Chow/The Republic
7 views0 comments
The Housing Crisis
A piece about the increase in Housing prices in San Diego.
11 views0 comments
bottom of page