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GREENSBORO — They came together on Aug. 1, knowing little about one other.

They knew only that they were refugees or immigrants from Africa, Asia and Mexico and that they were there to make a documentary film about their lives.

Some spoke haltingly in English when they introduced themselves. But they looked around that conference table at FaithAction International House and exchanged warm smiles with everyone there. They expressed an interest in friendship. And they spoke of their journeys to refugee camps or their experiences coming to the United States.

Despite their language differences, storytelling came easily for them. During the next 12 weeks, a handful of American volunteers helped them transform those stories into their own three-minute documentary films titled “My Journey.”

They have become friends as well as storytellers. And now, they are ready to share their stories with others.

The Worlds Touch vision

Through technology, worlds can touch. That’s how Trish Perkins sees it. Perkins has traveled throughout Asia, Europe, Morocco, Peru and Costa Rica. Her extensive travels, coupled with her technology training, led her to create a technology consulting nonprofit, Worlds Touch. She has created databases and Web sites for organizations serving the underprivileged in Nepal and India.

Three years ago, Perkins became a Vista volunteer — the domestic version of the Peace Corps. In that role, she worked in High Point’s West End neighborhood, an area where local church and city leaders have worked to address poverty, crime and drug issues.

And now, she’s at Faith

Action, using her technology skills to help immigrants and refugees.

While working in West End, Perkins led a 10-week filmmaking class of seven participants. It was so successful, Perkins wanted to replicate it with immigrants and refugees. A grant from American Friends Service Committee and a handful of volunteers enabled her to fulfill her wish.

Language was never a barrier for her West End students, and they had more experience working with computers. But the two groups shared this in common: a sense of empowerment.

“The people learn a skill that extends their world. ... It just lights up your world whenever you’re there,” Perkins says. “The ability to express yourself in a way that reaches others — it just feels great. And that feeling comes over every one of those students.”

Incredible journeys

Their theme was “My Journey,” and their films could relate any physical or psychological journey in their lives.

David Pau and Joyce Niang document their journeys of escaping imprisonment and religious persecution. Pau was imprisoned following a church service in their native Burma. They are Christians in an unstable country that is primarily Buddhist. In the class, he shared the harrowing story of his capture: the ride with other prisoners on the back of a truck under scorching heat, of being beaten or threatened with beatings for merely looking up. He spoke of incredible thirst.

His wife, Joyce, fled Burma with their three young children. She walked barefoot through Thailand to reach a refugee camp in Malaysia.

Other stories captured fond memories of home.

Amina Tahirou remembers a carefree place in a remote village of her native Niger in West Africa. She calls it a “play place.” It’s where villagers gather at the end of the day to sing, dance and socialize. Children play, and young adults court one another. Her movie tells the story of a journey she made with her sister to visit her favorite aunt, who was sick.

“I was sad at the beginning because my auntie is sick, but when I see the play place, I became happy,” she now recalls.

Sara Moreno’s film features more of a psychological journey. Moreno, who is from Madrid, Spain, came to High Point through the Visiting International Faculty program. Her documentary illustrates how easily people form stereotypes of one another, based on what they see or hear in mass media.

The film begins with three characters watching television. They are an African American man, a white woman and a Latino man. When they meet each other on the street, they react with fear, prejudice and hate.

But as the film progresses, viewers see the African American man is a doctor; the Latino man is a teacher; and the white woman has an African American grandchild. It illustrates that their fears and perceptions were unfounded.

“You see these same people in their jobs, doing good things, having a multicultural family,” Moreno says.

Moreno says it’s important to get to know someone before forming an opinion about them.

“Whatever I do, teaching, (making) documentaries, the main goal is to become a better person and help people become better and to live without fear and hate,” she says.

That’s a wrap

The students will show their films to the public at the Greensboro Historical Museum on Saturday afternoon. Volunteer Katelin Hudak looks forward to the reunion.

“Working with them was great, but when you get to sit down with them and just talk about what’s going on in their day-to-day life — just getting to know them — that was one of the best parts for me,” she says.

Volunteer Iris Carter hopes this won’t be the end of her connection with them. Their stories were so inspiring, she wants to do more work.

“I’d like to see their stories in written form,” she says. “And if Trish would have me, I wouldn’t mind being involved in some other classes.”

Perkins has a waiting list of five people for the next class. She just needs the money to do it. It costs about $1,200 to run it, she says.

Carter says the class reinforced to her that people who come to the U.S. from other countries aren’t all illegal immigrants.

“I’m taking their stories myself and sharing them with other people because I don’t think people have a clue,” she says.

“People see somebody from another country, and automatically they just assume they’re not supposed to be here. We have so many who are legitimately working, doing what they’re supposed to and doing everything legally, and they don’t get a fair shake.”

Contact Tina Firesheets at 373-3498 or tina.firesheets@news-record.com