Luister terug: opening fototentoonsteling Ver van Huis met Ishmail Kamara

Ishmail Kamara is geboren in Mambolo Chiefdom, Sierra Leone. In 2012 kwam hij als vluchteling naar Nederland. Hij woont in Rotterdam waar hij poëzie workshops, stadswandelingen en performances organiseert in opdracht van de Rotterdamse Tent, Boijmans van Beuningen, Belvedere en Open Rotterdam. Hij schrijft gedichten in het Nederlands en Engels. Tijdens de opening van de fototentoonstelling Ver van Huis sprak Ishmail kamara een aantal woorden uit over de bovenstaande foto:

Sustainable co-ordination

Once In a green land when the soil
became shy.
Survival became a thick and long lasting fog

Once in a green land where hope is getting loose
and becomes a thin rope
As thin as a thread

Bellies would shrink
Beautiful brown eyes would turn
into a red flames

Flames that would burn not only
the soul
but also the dry plain fields

And nothing but a shattered hope
would be its remains

Once in a green land where the only
fruit of survival hangs too high and difficult
to reach

A team of survivors would pursue
with the tactics of a sustainable co-ordination

A team of survivors building a bridge that
would lead them the way to reach the top
of the tree

Backs would bend over
Hands holding on in support of the
backbone of their self-made bridge

Heads up with all eyes focussing on the
same direction longing to achieve a
single goal

With sustainable co-ordination
they work , they push and stamp their
feet steadfast on the ground
They form an image postured a desperate giraffe
during famine time
stretching his long neck in order to reach
the tops of the remains

Even if you are far-away from home
Sustainable co-ordination is the pathway
in order to get there and overcome

With strength and solidarity
they would strive
And above all
unity is strength