Uprooted: Heartache and Hope in New Hampshire

Uprooted: Heartache and Hope in NH, is a 30-minute documentary based on interviews collected as part of a NH Humanities oral history project with immigrants and refugees in 2010. It tells the story of five refugees who escaped from war-torn countries to resettle in New Hampshire. The film explores what it means to be a refugee and how it feels to make a new life in a strange place, often without English language skills, family, a job, or community contacts. The film leaves audiences pondering questions of belonging and community. What is it like to be a refugee resettled in the U.S.? How can we better understand and relate to the experiences of these New Americans?  What are our responsibilities toward newcomers in our NH communities?

Dr. Sara Withers is a cultural anthropologist who has conducted ethnographic research in Sri Lanka, Mexico, and the U.S.  She was Project Manager for the film Uprooted: Heartache and Hope in NH, and since then has presented the film at dozens of venues around NH, facilitating discussions about the experiences and realities of being a refugee in today’s world.  Dr. Withers teaches anthropology at UNH, where she offers a variety of classes, including ones on Latin America, migration, and Applied Anthropology.  She currently serves on the Board of Sycamore Community Garden in Concord, NH, a community garden that serves many refugee and immigrant families in the Concord area, and on the Board of Story Preservation Initiative, an online, open-access collection of first-person interviews and stories and K-12 educational materials.

Made possible with the help of the NH Humanities Council