m of care – jul 25 25

[was actually at 11am ny time – 9am for me]

via nika dubrovsky fb post [https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1286323206837773&set=a.503785295091572]:

visual assembly ness – visual assembly as map

Our visual assembly will start with a story from friends from Kenya about how refugees are living in one of the largest refugee camps on the African continent.

What I read myself looks something like this:

hundreds of thousands of people have been held hostage there for decades.

Looks like everyone benefits from staying in these camps – like pawns in a political game to use as needed.

Many people earn money: international organizations, extremist groups, officials and, of course, grantees.

Some stories are just incredible:

Women who walk through the desert with children sometimes have to throw those who can’t walk into the stretches of hyenas to save the rest. And then they live in the fear that the authorities will find out about their crime and will expel them from camp or be punished.

Houses where people live – literally sticky plastic bags in the middle of the desert. But they are forbidden to build normal houses, because everything here is “temporary”.

The only way to get out of camp is to connect with paramilitary groups who offer jobs, money, and freedom of movement. But the price for this, you know, is quite a bit.

Yet it is amazing: even in such conditions – in the desert, without water, documents, the right to leave the camp, without education, without rights, like in a prison, where they give exactly enough food to not die, – people do the same as all ordinary people: open schools, build churches, play football, Starting families, doing business.

I have a feeling that if they were allowed, they would have built themselves a decent city in this desert.

They would dig wells, install solar panels, paint the walls of houses with national patterns, and begin to invite tourists.

It seems the refugee camps are legalized prisons, grey areas today. Something like post-Soviet Chechnya.

need: a sabbatical ish transition for legit global detox leap.. or if that doesn’t work..I think *even in a couple months it could go viral so there’s that possibility.. the other end is that it doesn’t go viral.. it’s not a global detox reset but at the end of the year you would have to date the best option for refugee camps for homeless encampments.. and because those numbers keep going up and up and again today nothing yet has been no strings attached ness enough for them to work so people don’t feel alive (rather on hold ness) in those places And those facilitiating or actually managing it get burnt out

*immigration detentions centers ness (whole thing is so inhuman.. but perhaps will allow for a window of giving a sabbatical ish transition a go.. where we can finally try the unconditional part of left to own devices ness)

notes/quotes from meeting:

john namai: kenyan econ contributes a lot of money.. they’re good in business.. but also people warned to not go there.. so quite an irony.. what you said about politicizing the refugees.. kenyan military went into samalia.. w/in kenya there were checks.. and some forcably returned to samalia.. so brings a lot of dynamics.. lot of victimization.. stereotyping (labeled a terrorist).. so many challenges.. so can’t move out of neighborhoods because of 1\ conflicts w police 2\ survival.. key issues are livelihood issues.. so we reach out to them thru the arts.. similar to ny.. kenya also a transition port.. issues between guests/hosts.. refugees contribute a lot to nation they are going to.. so should not be looked at as aliens.. they bring a lot of culture

nika: how to make it attractive so everybody will come

ie: org around legit needs every soul already craves.. life over survival ness

miles (chalk!): (on 46th st in ny).. where recent arrivals were put.. emptied out during covid so city bought/leased a bunch of rooms and let arrivals stay there.. *put people in weird limbo position)..t showing what’s going on in jy on beg screen.. ie: had to move to new hotel every 6 mos et al.. then all the faults blamed on the migrants.. now no longer in use.. fewer migrants arriving in ny.. so now at a hotel is empty.. and we’re drawing on the sidewalk.. **to imagine what can a place like this look like and how could we have done this better.. what does a good city look like

*refugee ness.. actually all of us in weird limbo.. ie: need a legit way out of this on hold ness

**a sabbatical ish transition

nika: start writing rules down.. of how people are in this place.. what was problem in huge refugee camp in nairobi

goodi from nairobi: currently working at refugee camp in nairobi.. 1/2 million.. provide food, shelter, schools, .. constant uprising of war around this region..

john namai in chat: here is some work we have done with refugee youth from somali-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy__7XsgKts

nika: asking goodi what she would do if she was in charge.. to tell people in ny..

goodi: if ways to make them be sustainable and not rely on aid.. ie: by teaching agri, skills to sustain.. how can we make that arid place to be how they can get own food

nika: my understanding is .. they’re not allowed to do much.. yet we do have tech to produce w/o space et al.. so my proposal.. build this spirolima farm in huge room of hotel.. and one room would feed everybody.. so one room devoted to food.. permanent place where everybody in ny who is hungry can come.. build something they cannot only feed self but share

guy in ny: we have a positive on that..

nika: any other proposals of what should be done if we’re going to take over roosevelt hotel

john: that’s a good proposal.. also.. help them continue with their livelihood.. supporting them in their skills

nika: so if dr.. remove all bureaucracy.. if inside building.. can do (what can’t legally outside)..t

sandbox ness et al.. 1 yr to experiment ness

savitri: 1000 design solutions but very difficult to get to design solution were people are unlimitedly creative.. hard to jump to design.. in between us and the question of what would we do.. humans have .. why are we unable to design our revolution

nika: our exercise now.. that govt not bothering us anymore and we are in charge..

need to try a sabbatical ish transition.. the ‘tool’ we haven’t yet tried: the unconditional part of left to own devices ness.. rather than thinking we have to teach/manage et al

darren: the idea of addressing trauma.. talking circles.. help people express what they’re holding inside.. so can let go of a lot of pain

nika: they should not be looked upon as someone who needs help.. t

huge.. we’re so ingrained with all the degrees of: people telling other people what to do.. in the guise of help\ing ness

nika: reading ‘the police has told us not legal to draw on sidewalk’

miles: so i asked if we could draw on street.. so that’s what we’re doing.. everybody is in agreement that everything sounds great.. all the great ideas at once.. we have a whole street to fill now.. so keep diving us ideas

john: so have computer space, craft space, .. way to all have one voice to share to civil society that can maybe work on govt.. hotel is a really good idea.. also nika liked what you said about spaces for playing.. the playgrounds.. we forget a lot about the children.. to build another world w/in that hotel..t

yeah that.. ie: hari rat park law et al

this was year 2 – the be you house

savitri: most resilient people show up here (in ny) go thru all kinds of borders to get/stay here.. all that creation happens naturally.. inflection pts where it doesn’t happen.. we need landing pads.. to soften when they arrive.. what do these places need.. they need language.. a place for speaking their own language and learning other languages..t

need means/tech as nonjudgmental expo labeling to undo hierarchical listening as global detox so we can org around legit needs

ie: self-talk as data via idiosyncratic jargon

john: camps as ed centers.. vocational center in hotel

savitri: danger in ny..when we centralize work around migrants.. because police/ice/state so heavy.. so work here has been to decentralize.. so in imaginative sense need to protect id’s or decentralize and encrypt that work in other places.. have to do it in such a way that people invisible.. so like hotel has to be everywhere because state is too strong and it’s dangerous

and/or ie: a sabbatical ish transition

nika: how to make this place in ny most attractive place for everyone

nika in chat:
From my side, I would like to turn the question around: it’s not about how we can help them, but how we can create ways for them to help us. For that, we simply need to let them be free..t

the thing we’ve not yet tried/seen: the unconditional part of left to own devices ness.. so we keep perpetuating myth of tragedy and lord ness

[‘in an undisturbed ecosystem ..the individual left to its own devices.. serves the whole’ –dana meadows]

miles: ny has a lot of roof top farms.. which is great.. but they are private

nika: summary: big farm on roof, one room of spirolina production,

savitri: library of tools

none of this is new.. over last 15 yrs..we’ve actually tried them all and/or researched people who have

this is city sketchup ness..
could use tech ‘city sketch-up’ or even just ‘i wish this was a’ sticker label

john: culinary dishes.. and dinners

darren: why create an idea that is beyond actionable.. w john’s idea.. could have culinary meals with talking space.. easily a 20 dollar a person night.. and actually do start raising funds.. a tremendously good idea.. create actionable ideas

john: also forgetting fashion

leo: this is completely possible.. chain of restaurants et al

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