In August 2019, with the logistical support of the Chagos Refugees Group, which promotes and preserves the culture and traditions of the Chagos Archipelago, together with Dr. Farhad Khoyratty from the University of Mauritius, we organized a creative writing workshop, entitled “Writing Myth and Memory to Fight Cultural Injustice Against Chagossians”, which aimed to make the tragedy of the displaced islanders visible. The human drama experienced by this community needs to be recorded and made public despite the geopolitical issues that have rendered the people and their plight totally invisible. We based the exercises on critical trauma studies and our own background in literary studies. We designed the sessions so that the participants could feel relaxed and become aware that their life experiences and their Chagossian identity were valued. One of the objectives of the workshop was for them to comprehend that their individual experiences were closely linked to the essence and embodiment of their community. The results of the workshop were immensely positive. The participants – 9 women and 3 men – were motivated to record their memories or those of their parents or grandparents of the islands that were abandoned so hastily.
The workshop lasted for three very intensive days as in such a short time we were able to accomplish two vital goals. First and foremost, the men and women who attended understood that their culture was being valued by people from outside their community. Secondly, their memories would be published online and thus become visible to a potential worldwide audience. The attendees clearly felt empowered and capable of narrating their stories that we believed should not be circumscribed only by the collective consciousness but must be aired out loud. Some of the participants were among the original deportees and could barely read or write so the texts we used to exemplify our points were brief and were coupled with visual material. A lack of formal education did not deter anybody from voicing his or her views on the different topics we raised and in fact the older members of the group were the most articulate in recounting their life experiences. We could perceive a strong desire to tell their stories and share their experiences with us.