This week at Pulling Together saw the end of another completed project. Due to ongoing restrictions and members still feeling unsure about going out to meet up in a large group we have once more given out high street vouchers for them to purchase food to celebrate at home. We are looking forward to being able to view a display of all the work created during 2020 and 2021.
This week at Pulling Together the group had created their individual family tree frames. Using the green jewels they
could add them to represent their own family groups.
This week at Pulling Together we had a five minutes with Masuda, who spoke at her experiences when she first
came to England.
Hiba: When did you come to England?
Masuda: I arrived in July 1964 with my daughter who was nearly 4 years old at the time.
Hiba: What was your first impression?
Masuda I remember getting off the plane and wondering why it was so cold.But I was happy to see my husband again after a few years apart
Hiba: Did you come to Manchester straight away?
Masuda: I stayed one night in London at my sister-in-law’s house, then we all came to Manchester and lived in a
rented room at my cousin’s house.
Hiba: What is your saddest memory?
Masuda: Memories are strange because all the happy memories are also a little sad because I couldn’t share themwith my mother or brothers and sister. I remember when my first son was born I was so happy but also sad that my mum wasn’t near to help me like she did the first time round.
Hiba: How did you stay in touch with family back home?
Masuda: At first we wrote letters especially a blue aerogramme letter but if it was urgent news we would either send
or receive a telegram. Telegrams always meant someone had died. Good news always came in regular letters. In the 1980’s family or friends in Pakistan began to get phones so contacting them was easier but very expensive. Now I have learnt to make video calls on Whatsapp and I can see and speak to my family all over the world without any problems
Hiba: Where is home?
Masuda: Home is where my children are. I have lived here for nearly sixty years so this is my home. I will always be from Pakistan and will love that fact. But now I love to live here and visit Pakistan regularly but the last year and a half has been difficult because of the restrictions. I can’t wait to go to Pakistan again because everyone makes such a fuss of me when I get there.
This week at Pulling Together we completed the Our Family Tree tapestry. Thank you to the all the members who
helped to design, embroidery and stitch together the tapestry.
This week at Pulling Together we began to design and embroider the panels for our tapestry Our Family Tree.
This week at Pulling Together we began to draw up what images to include in the “Our Family Tree” banner. The young women thought it was important to include where families migrated from. From the conversations that have been held with parents and grandparents the women hope to document some of the stories as postcards sent back home to their loved ones, telling the experiences faced by the migrants as they arrived in Britain some as many as 60 years ago.
This week at Pulling Together we continued with our project “Our Family Tree”. The young women have been talking about the experiences that their parents and grandparents talked about. They likened the isolation that these first migrants felt to the past year and how during lockdown we have been unable to meet up with family and friends. Using their stories we hope to create individual artwork that can be combined to create a larger piece of art that can be displayed at Limelight and at future Pulling Together events. Using applique and embroidery is important as often many of the grandmothers who first came to England were able to use these techniques in making traditional clothes for family members.
Some of the group talked about how the only way to contact the family back home was via letter and often with an aerogramme letter or a call booked through the operator and in an emergency a telegram.
This week at Pulling Together we began our latest project funded by Trafford Council Inclusive Neighbourhoods Grant Scheme. Our Family Tree is a project in which we hope that members can explore the the experiences of parents and grandparents as they made the journey from their homelands to the UK to make a new life for themselves and their families. This week we looked at how to ask family members who made this journey some as early as the 1960’s and some more recently. We would like to find out what experiences they has and how they overcame barriers such as language, racism, loneliness and isolation at the time of their arrival.
Some of the questions we decided on were:
Where were you born?
How did you get to England?
Where did you get married?
How old were you when you had your first child?
What is your favourite food?
What was your dream or ambition?
What language do you speak?
Do you have any brothers and sisters? Where are they?
Did you know anyone else in England?
What did you think it would be like living here?
Were you lonely?
How did you stay in touch with your family back home?
Did you think you would live here forever?
Do you have any photos of when you first came here or from before you came?
Using the questions and answers we hope to make a presentation and a fabric collage/banner that expresses the feelings that each person had.
This week at Pulling Together the young women helped finish off the canvas from last week and included the extra pieces they felt that it needed.
This week at Pulling Together we celebrated our end of project event. Thank you to GMVCO for funding our OT WonderWomen project. It has been an interesting project throughout and all the young women agreed that they have learnt how to become OT WonderWomen and help others who may need advice or mentoring. Each of the participants was given a voucher to buy what they wanted for their end of project celebration. We also saw the finished dress maker’s dummy made by Sofia and Hiba. It is a great piece of art that will be used in the group on future events.
Pulling Together Asian Women's Group 