BLOG post on UNHCR
By Destani Wolf
Years ago I saw a rescue worker reaching to help a crying child off a boat full of distraught Syrian refugees in the news. I was immediately moved to tears, and the question of “what can I do?” burned inside me. As a singer & songwriter, I’m always brought back to my music , which inspired the song, White Water Tumbling.
Before the current pandemic, I toured the world (Mumbai, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Istanbul, Cairo) as the lead singer for Cirque Du Soleil BAZZAR. There I found myself even more in touch with global matters that affect so many. In particular, those who are left with little choice but to leave their home to save their family. At the same time, at home in the United States immigrant children were being separated from their parents and left alone in detention cells.
When I shared the lyrics and ballad with film director Marjan Tehrani of Tru Films, she was inspired to join me in bringing awareness to the plight of refugees to the world. Together with animator Josh Clark, we produced an extremely poignant and emotional short film about a refugee girl and her family, who are forced to leave their home because of the violence that surrounds them, and make the terrifying journey across the sea to seek asylum. Told through the girl’s point of view, we share the fear, confusion, and resilience of those young refugees impacted by this crisis around the world.
