"Photographs and Stories of Refugee Women: Perseverance, Dignity, Strength, Hope and Peace" Exhibit at Mayo Clinic

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

WHAT: Jane Kramer's powerful photographs will be displayed at Mayo Clinic. The collection includes 15 black-and-white photographs and five biographies that depict experiences of four refugee women and one asylee. An asylee is a person who has been granted asylum, the right to remain in the United States.

For six years Kramer worked as an English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor in a nursing assistant training program for newly naturalized Americans in St. Paul, Minn. Through this experience she built relationships with the five women featured in this exhibit. Each woman completed the nursing assistant training program and works in the health care field.

"As a teacher, I had heard bits and pieces of their personal lives during breaks or over the lunch hour," says Kramer. "However, I wanted to know more, not only to satisfy my own curiosity, but also because I wanted to share with others all that I admired and respected about these women."

This exhibit illustrates the difficulties of being a refugee and adapting to American culture. War and political and religious persecution are reasons these women fled their country. Each day they face new obstacles to overcome in their integration into American culture.

"I am hopeful that you will see these women not as immigration statistics, but instead as mothers, sisters, classmates, co-workers, neighbors and fellow citizens who are contributing to the fabric of American society," says Kramer.

WHEN: The Kramer exhibit will be on display from Tuesday, Jan. 3, through Thursday, April 6, 2006.

WHERE: The exhibit will be displayed along the west corridor linking the Mary Brigh and Francis buildings at Saint Marys Hospital, first floor, 1216 Second Street S.W.

WHO: Hosted by Mayo Clinic Center for Humanities in Medicine, the exhibit is free and open to all patients, visitors, staff and the public.

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To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. MayoClinic.com is available as a resource for your health stories.