“Forced From Home” Interactive Exhibit and Tour Opens at Long Wharf, Experienced Aid Workers Provide Firsthand Accounts of Global Refugee Crisis
BOSTON, OCTOBER 12, 2016 – The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) brings its free, outdoor educational exhibit on the global refugee crisis to Boston this week. Thousands of visitors are expected to attend “Forced From Home” at Long Wharf. The exhibition seeks to put a face on the ongoing global refugee crisis by discussing the migration journeys of millions, illustrating the conditions in which refugees live and offering first-hand accounts from aid workers, who bring their experiences helping displaced populations around the world.
Forced From Home will be in Boston from October 15-23, before continuing its tour along the East Coast. The exhibition launched in New York and was recently in Washington, D.C.
“This exhibit confronts visitors with the impossible choices millions of people face each day as they run from horrific war, persecution, and economic deprivation,” said Jason Cone, executive director for MSF-USA. “Our objective is to provide a sense of what people experience as they cross treacherous seas, travel through dangerous migratory routes and arrive at refugee camps."
MSF is on the frontlines of all facets of the migration and refugee crisis and is committed to speaking out on behalf of its patients. Forced From Home is designed to bring the refugee crisis closer to home and show what life is like for refugees fleeing crisis in places such as Afghanistan, Burundi, Honduras, Syria and South Sudan. With an MSF aid worker as their guide, visitors navigate an immersive, 10,000-square-foot exhibition space as a refugee or internally displaced person – to help them understand why so many risk it all in search of safety.
“People fleeing for their lives are too often reduced to numbers and statistics,” said Cone. “I've talked with people in refugee and internally displaced camps from South Sudan to Lebanon. They are not much different than any of us. They are mothers and fathers wanting the best possible future for their children. They are far from passive victims. They are some of the bravest and most resilient individuals on earth that I have ever met. Through this exhibit, we put a human face on those staggering numbers to give the public a real sense of what it looks like, feels like and what it means, to be forced from home.”
The exhibition also includes a virtual reality (VR) experience. Upon arrival, visitors walk through a 30-foot-diamater dome to watch an enveloping, 360-degree video that brings them up close with individuals, families and aid workers in refugee camp and displacement settings. Visitors also have the opportunity to watch one of three original documentaries in VR that take a closer look at patients escaping crises in Burundi, Honduras and Syria.
Full details for registration, related events and exhibition dates for Forced From Home are available at forcedfromhome.com. Exhibit updates can be found by following @ForcedFromHome on Twitter or Instagram.
Upcoming East Coast tour dates and cities:
- October 15-23: Long Wharf in Boston, MA
- October 27-31: Schenley Plaza in Pittsburgh, PA
- November 5-13: Independence Mall in Philadelphia, PA
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters, and exclusion from health care. MSF offers assistance to people based on need, irrespective of race, religion, gender, or political affiliation.
