< Back Djenabou's Story Djenabou talks with Rene about her family. She shares her exceptional relationship that she has with her sister. Scroll to listen 00:00 / 03:08 Djenabou: So my youngest brother is named TJ, that’s his nickname but his name is Tijani. He is 17 years old. And then higher from that is my brother named Hamadou. He is 18. Then there is me, 22. And then my other sister named Fanta, she just turned 31 a couple days ago. And then my eldest sister's name is Isha and she is also 31. I'm closer to my sister, Fanta since Isha, my eldest sister left when she was 16, had to leave the country. So I grew up with my sister Fanta for all of my life; all the bickering, arguing, we grew really, really close because we were always together. We would go to the movies together like each week or go to the mall each week and stuff. Rene: “What was it like when you were little?” Djenabou: I think one moment that I remember with Fanta was we were watching High School Musical together on VHS and I love musicals now because she had High School Musical so that was a really connected bond between us. And another thing, I think when I was in elementary school, she would always go to all of my award shows because my parents were always working and stuff like that so my sister would always be there for my award shows and stuff. And it was always important because when she went to see me receive all my awards and even at my graduation too, when my parents weren’t there. Rene: “You know I’m a big sister and I have two younger sisters and I was a stand-in mom for them frequently, so I understand the tenderness of that relationship. So she was like your mom at times, your big sister, tell me a little bit about how you would characterize your relationship with her.” Djenabou: I think about tough love, like she is very honest, very brutally honest. But I know she does that because she cares about everyone in the house. And I know that if I ask her for something she'll do it. No questions asked shell do it. She will ask questions a little bit after but she’ll definitely do it. She's very caring, she's funny too. She has her moments, I guess. She's such a perfectionist also, a very high maintenance person. She's very very independent as well. Rene: So what would you most like, if you could tell her thank you, what is it you would say to her? Djenabou: I would thank her for a lot of stuff, like being the person I can go to. Also, just being the role model for me too. And always making sure I’m good and I have everything. If I don't have anything she will provide me with that. Even planning for my birthday too with my group of friends, she'll pay for it even though the bill is high. She will go out of her way and pay for it. Just like that second motherly figure and stuff. Rene: Really, how lovely. Previous Next

< Back Noleen's Story Noleen describes her and her family’s migration from Ghana to the U.S., navigating constant transitions before finally settling in Massachusetts. 00:00 / 04:35 So I will be telling the story of my migration from Ghana to the United States. So from what I remember, it was just a random day. I was in either second or third grade, and my parents pulled me out of school, my siblings and I out of school, to go and take passport pictures. My parents were going through the paperwork process and just getting everything together. I remember that after third grade, my dad was like, "Okay, so we're gonna take a trip to the United States.” And we're like, we were so excited. We left Ghana, like I wanna say, a month after school had ended. We, you know, took a trip here. Everything was so smooth. We got here, it was, it was a totally different world from what I was used to seeing. We had a blast. We lived here for, I wanna say, about two months. And then, um, my parents had at some point decided that they didn't wanna live in Massachusetts. My dad decided that it was best that my mom should live in the US and move somewhere else. And then my dad would take my siblings and I back to Ghana to continue schooling until my mom, you know, was settled down. Cause he didn't feel like it was best for all of us to move together to start a new life somewhere else, where we didn't really have anyone. So she moved to Chicago, and we went back to Ghana. Um, but when I got to school, school had already started. So it was like a, maybe like three weeks, three weeks or a month into school, and I just got there, and everyone was like, “Oh my god, where were you?” And you know, with African tradition, people usually don't like to say what they're doing unless things are actually set in stone. So my parents like, you know, keep things a secret, like don't tell them, like, any details, don't tell anyone, anything. Then my mom decided that she didn't wanna live in Chicago cause she felt like it was not the best fit for us. So she got into contact with her friend, and she moved to Texas, and she lived in Texas, she felt like, you know, life there was very different. She liked it, but she still didn't feel like it was the best decision. And then she eventually wanted to actually come back to Ghana. Now things get a little chaotic here. My dad was like, you know, to keep our status active, we would need to live in the United States. So my mom had to make up her mind. Then my mom moved back to Massachusetts. We took another trip to the US, and we lived here for, I wanna say, like a month, and then, um, we went back to Ghana after that because things were still not settled. We went back to school. I started fifth grade, and I think this time, though, I did get to fifth grade when it started, and I knew that this was probably going to be the school year that would be my final school year in Ghana. Um, I still had to keep everything a secret. And then now things are really, really set in stone as time went on. My dad would pull us out of school to go through the immigration process, um, take us to do paperwork. Now we're doing immunizations, gathering all our belongings so we would move to the United States. Near the end of the school year, my dad had written a letter to the school telling them that we were not going to come back anymore, but this was just with the administration, like this was when no one else. I remember the last day of school, I was really sad. I felt like I had no proper closure with people that were around me because I, again, was told to keep this private, so no one knew what was going on. But I decided to tell a few of my friends. I told about one or two people that I actually was moving to the United States and was never going to come back or at least not return as a student to the school anymore. And I remember I was just really trying to savor all my last moments with my friends because I knew within like a month we would be gone. So now school ends. Um, now we started, like, you know, packing, finalizing everything, and then the day came where my dad, my two brothers and I, we moved to the US. And I will say it wasn't really like a hard difference because first of all, we lived here for a few months, so we kind of expected, you know, what was going to happen. Like it wasn't anything totally new experience, because in our little short moments during our trips here, we did, you know, move around, we did explore stuff, so we knew what to expect. So it wasn't really like a hard transition for us at all. Um, I remember I lived in a really big apartment, so a lot of people that were young were my age. And that's how I started meeting connections here. I wanna say maybe like a month before sixth grade began, they took us to do paperwork with the, I forgot what it was called, but they took us through the paperwork to begin school. And then I was like, oh my god, wow, like things are actually, you know, starting. And then during the summertime, I had a blast. I was making memories with people that I kind of still know today. And it's been, honestly, a blessing. Previous Next

Emily L's Story Emily discusses how her culture, once embarrassing to her, has helped her shape into the growing and caring person she is today. Scroll to Listen Emily L's Story 00:00 / 02:35 Reflecting now, it's sad to say but I was definitely embarrassed at the time when I had to do all this or if my parents didn't understand or spoke to me in another language, like in public and I would have to translate it, I thought it was a little bit embarrassing– I don't know, I don't really want to talk, be different –I don't want to stand out in front of other people and so that was kind of like how I felt growing up. I did think resentment, I did a bit too just because I wish things were a little easier. I think that just because I had this role in my life it definitely made it a lot harder for me to be a kid and a student. I had to worry about making sure that my brother was taken care of as well in the school aspect of things, but now I'm just reflecting on it and I'm kind of grateful that they [my parents] didn't know how to speak English because now I know another language because of it and I don't mind helping them now. I'm so used to it that now I care for people a lot more deeply just because I've grown up to have to care for people, so I think its definitely made me grow as a person and mature in a way where it feels like, “oh this is not embarrassing or it wasn't embarrassing but more so I'm grateful” because I'm still connected to my roots and culture and I'm thankful that I know my language because when I go back to Malaysia I can connect with my family members there too so there's no disconnect really and even though I grew up here and they live across the world in a different society with different cultures, I still feel like I'm a part of the family too.

< Back Liya's Story Liya Liang speaks with Nina Kleinberg about her experiences attending a preparatory boarding school and leaving all she knew behind. The two discuss the effects that it had on her life reflecting on the aspects of race, class, and socioeconomic status had on her experience during her four years. 00:00 / 03:29 My high school self-looking back on it, I was just, I think a big fish in a small pond. I like never stepped out of my comfort zone. I never really pushed boundaries. I wasn’t a person to take risks. I think that my college experience is different than my high school experience in the sense that I’m learning to learn and learning for myself and about myself discovery. So, a big part of my identity I’m from Lowell Mass, and that’s the second most populated Cambodian refugee community. Being Cambodian was always an important part of my identity, but since I was immersed in a lot of Cambodian culture, I didn’t see why it was special or why it was different. My parents until I was in middle school never really talked about what they have went through, what they have gone through, same thing with my grandmother until I asked. So, that kickstarted me looking into my identity more, but back then I didn’t really think about my Cambodian identity that much. I knew it was a strong part of me because I was living in it, but I didn’t really get to deconstruct my place in the greater scheme of the world because I was in the middle of the ethnic community of it. I knew it was different, I’ve never really been around that many rich people, and I’ve never experienced that before, it was just a culture shock in the sense that I felt like I didn’t connect with people that much, since we were so different, but I ended up making friends. Initially, I was “oh these people are so different, they dress different, they look different, they talk different” and I was in a different environment, I felt really insecure, and I didn’t have that much confidence in myself, it was really the first time I pushed myself. Within weeks I just got more comfortable talking in how I spoke whether it was different and whether it was ineloquent, and I think that really helped a lot. I just thought that the student body would be more diverse. There were Asian people, but they didn’t really deem me Asian since I am Asian American. That was really hard for me because I am not a white person, I’m not a black person, I’m Asian, but I am Asian American. And I often found myself counting the amount of people of color in the room just to make myself feel a little more comfortable, I was also sometimes really hyperaware that I was the only person of color in the room. That was like the first time that I experienced that. It really made me insecure I think the first couple years. But then I realized that not that it was all in my head, that I needed to grow comfortable in my place, and that my place in the grand scope of things wouldn’t change. If I just couldn’t figure out a way to navigate these spaces, that I would struggle. And if I really really struggled that would be at the expense of why I was here, my academic and just to do well. I just knew that I had to do great, because of my identity and because I was purely there I guess, because of my identity. I was really really stressed, I wanted to be perfect. My junior year and my senior year, I was really focused on I have to do well because I am here because I need to excel, I need to represent my community as home, represent my own Cambodian community. I think my identity of Asian American grew stronger because of it, and I was in a different environment, but I think I was very sheltered being home. Previous Next

< Back Sunny's Story Sunny shares a story about how her relationship with the fine arts has developed and strengthened over the course of her life. She has a passion for art that follows her everywhere. 00:00 / 03:31 I would say my passion is art, and specifically fine arts. But I recently have branched out to other forms like dancing, and I do embrace this a lot. I have done fine arts competitively since the second grade. And I’ve actually been an annual gold key recipient of the Scholastic arts and writing award since 2013. And in college, I stopped doing it. Just because it took a lot of time and effort, and a lot of money and space to even continue to do fine arts so it wasn’t very possible to do it in college with a limited amount of space, and a limited amount of money, and just resources in general for myself. But I did end up joining an organization called the Korean Student Association, KSA, on campus. And the first year I joined, I was a photographer so I was still able to get that creative side out that way. And then the second year that I joined, I’m co-publicist right now, which means that I make graphics for this organization and post it on Instagram and any other social media platforms to just get our organization out there. And I continue to do digital art and post on my instagram hobby page. So these are different ways that I decided to continue my fine arts journey. Then, aside from that, I decided to branch out and I joined a dance ward on campus called DBJ. And then I also decided to start a small jewelry business for a little bit during COVID in order to fund different donation sites in order to help find relief for other families. This was my way to really use my creativity and, like, passion in art to give back to the community basically. And I honestly didn’t appreciate fine arts or any type of art until high school. I think even though I did this since second grade, and middle school, and elementary school, it felt more like a chore and like a class because I did go to art classes and academies after school. And in high school I switched to a smaller, studio-based art program that one of my favorite art instructors had founded and was leading and I really liked her teaching style, I think that other art teachers in the past would sometimes take my place as the artist and make changes to my art to fit more their style than my style and respecting my boundaries and my artistic visions. And this art instructor actually helped me find my style and let me be as creative as I wanted while also teaching me valuable art skills and the technical skills that come into art. So since high school, I realized that art was my place of comfort and consistency. And this was very valuable to me because I moved around so frequently throughout my life that my environment was constantly changing and I felt like it was the only thing I could always go back to, and it would be the same. How much I improved would really only depend on me and how much time I put in. so this new peace that I found in art kind of stuck with me and it never went away and I think that's why I really find art as my passion, and I think that’s where I’m at in the journey right now. Previous Next

< Back Ngozi's Story Ngozi Okeke talks to Tamar Shadur about traveling to Nigeria, dad's special pancakes, and how she would like to be remembered. 00:00 / 02:15 Previous Next

< Back Tolu's Story Tolu talks with Bob about her immigration to the US 00:00 / 04:44 Previous Next

In the News Our project has been featured in several news articles and videos. Check them out below! New England Public News Feature Dr. Gloria DiFulvio, as well as two participants in the project, Hellen Muma and Johnathan Daube, were featured on New England Public Media's "Connecting Point" to discuss their experience. Dr. DiFulvio also discusses the goals of the project, and what it was like to partner with Northampton Neighbors for this intergenerational storytelling endeavor. Experiential Learning Builds Connection Across Generations - UMass Amherst Feature The course, titled "The Epidemic of Loneliness: On Connection, Belonging, and Public Health," was also featured on the UMass Amherst website. Several other participants were interviewed for the piece and asked about their experiences. Tell Me a Story: Building Connections Across Generations Dr. Gloria DiFulvio was featured on the Northampton Neighbors Speakers Series to discuss the Epidemic of Loneliness course and lessons learned about the meaning of connection over the course of the project. This College Class is Bringing Generations Together To Reduce Loneliness - CoGenerate Feature This piece features participants in the project, Liya Liang and Nina Kleinberg, who discussed what the storytelling project and the course "The Epidemic of Loneliness: On Connection, Belonging, and Public Health" have taught them.

Tell Me A Story: Building Connection Across Generations A Project of University of Massachusetts Public Health Sciences Program and Northampton Neighbors Everyone has a story to share... Public Health students at UMass Amherst paired up with Northampton Neighbors for this storytelling project. We hope you enjoy their stories. Click on the names below to hear their stories. To view more stories, click the tabs in the menu above. You can see stories told by each cohort of students & Neighbors. To listen to the full interviews, click here! New Stories! Ryann's Story Ryann shares how her early love for dance was overshadowed by a highly competitive studio environment where favoritism and pressure made her feel inadequate and disconnected from her passion. Over time, this experience diminished her confidence and enjoyment, leading her to step away from dance after high school. However, upon joining a more supportive and inclusive dance program in college, a teacher helped her rediscover her confidence and love for dance. This renewed encouragement allowed her to see her potential and inspired her to pursue dance more seriously as a future career. Listen Bob's Story Bob discovered a love for education and the performing arts in high school, but took a long detour in life, even considering a career in construction at age 45. A chance encounter with a friend introduced him to the idea of creating an arts school, which aligned perfectly with his lifelong passion. Over 15 years, he built and led the school, which continues to thrive and produce successful graduates. His story emphasizes the importance of staying open to unexpected opportunities and following your true passions. Listen Sally's Story This is the story of Sally's grandmother, a woman who continues to inspire her every day. She has played a vital role in Sally's life, raising her with care, guiding her path, and shaping who she is. Her unwavering dedication, deep compassion, and strength deserve to be recognized. Through her passion and perseverance, she has become not only a role model to Sally, but a symbol of selfless love and resilience. Listen Mary Ann's Story Mary Ann reflects on a life shaped by early loss and resilience, following the sudden death of her father, which forced her family to quickly adapt and develop survival skills. A pivotal moment came when her future husband encouraged her to pursue a long-held but unimagined dream of becoming a doctor. Today, she looks back on a rich, unexpected life filled with family, professional accomplishments, and personal fulfillment, appreciating the support and opportunities that helped shape her journey. Listen Marisa's Story Marisa shares how her mother’s cancer diagnosis and subsequent passing profoundly influenced her life and career aspirations. Witnessing her strength and the care provided by nurses inspired her to pursue nursing, initially through fundraising and advocacy, then by formally studying healthcare. Though faced with challenges in transferring and entering a nursing program, Marisa used the opportunity to study kinesiology and public health, gaining foundational skills for her future practice. Now preparing to enter an accelerated nursing program, she is committed to providing compassionate care in honor of her mother’s legacy. Listen Ralph's Story Ralph reflects on how his understanding of “home” evolved from a physical house to something much deeper and more expansive. While his house feels like home through safety, creativity, and memories, he realize that home is also found in meaningful human connections, whether on a subway, in a restaurant abroad, or within a close-knit community. Through these experiences, he came to see home as something he carry within himself, shaped by relationships, kindness, and shared moments. Ultimately, home is not a single place, but a feeling rooted in connection and belonging. Listen Amelia's Story Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the end of high school, she felt like it held her back for a long time. She pushed herself, though, to run for the first time and hit four miles. Mentally, things shifted, and she realized that diabetes doesn’t have to hold her back. She joined her college’s running club, found her close friend there, who was also her training partner. They completed the Vermont City Marathon together, which was the hardest thing she’s ever had to do physically. In the end though, when she crossed that finish line, she cried tears of happiness with her family by her side, and that moment when she gave her mom a big hug and gave her dad a big hug meant everything to her. Listen David H's Story David describes how his autodidact tendencies and lifelong “obsessions” with computers, photography, biking, and astrology have shaped his relationships and sense of connection to others. Listen Sophy's Story Sophy recalls a dramatic encounter with a ghost in her Brooklyn apartment that left a lasting impact on her life. Listen Elsa's Story Elsa reflects on the lasting impact of her grandfather, who was known for his kindness, empathy, and ability to make everyone feel truly seen and valued. Rather than specific memories, what stands out most is how he made people feel and how he carried that warmth into all his relationships. After his passing, Elsa grew to appreciate him even more through shared stories and the community he touched. Inspired by his legacy, she hopes to carry forward his spirit by creating that same sense of belonging and care for others. Listen Owen's Story Owen describes how becoming a single parent forced him to confront complex feelings of frustration towards his son, and how overcoming these feelings led to their strong friendship today. Listen Emma's Story Interviewed by Linda, Emma discusses the different types of families she grew up with. She reflects on the family she gained throughout her childhood, while also delving into some of the hardships she faced. Emma explains how her family circumstances have truly shaped the person she is today. Listen

< Back Caroline's Story Story Coming Soon! Scroll to listen 00:00 / 02:45 Previous Next

< Back Leslie's Story In this clip, Leslie shares her passion for improving the quality of life for people with disabilities with a specific focus on young children and families. 00:00 / 04:07 Leslie: So my passion has been improving the quality of life for people with disabilities with a particular focus on young children and families in my professional roles. When I was a teenager, I became interested in what we called at the time, “mental retardation”, today known as “cognitive impairment” or “developmental disabilities”. One of my first professional jobs was working in a grant funded program for visually impaired children and adults in a state institution. I was fortunate to be part of the movement in the 1970s to expose the abuses of these institutions and improve the conditions as a result of state and federal lawsuits with subsequent funding. Leslie: As we developed this new program and learned about the ravages of trauma and deprivation of institutional life on those children and adults, we understood that we needed to develop relationships with many other staff. Including those in direct care roles who had been there for generations and were wary of so many new young professionals. When I left that position a few years later, I knew I had learned a lot understood, that I had cultivated some good advocacy skills and appreciated that teamwork was a very powerful approach for effective change. Working in that state institution was a jarring and humbling experience. When I left the position, I was aware that many of the people I had worked with had no one to advocate for them. Leslie: I subsequently became a legal guardian for a woman, Diana. She had been born in the institution to her mother, another resident, who had been abused and suffered from syphilis. Subsequently, Diana was deaf limited vision in one eye. I was able to use my knowledge and relationships with staff to improve the quality of Diana's life, first in the institution, later in a group home. Leslie: In contrast to my first position at the institution, I was honored to be part of the progressive approach to including these children and their communities and supporting parents in providing for their child's needs. Service delivery was based on interdisciplinary teamwork, including parents, educators, nurses, social workers and speech occupational and physical therapists. Our philosophy had that parents and families were the most important members of that team and without their investment, we professionals would not succeed. I often tell the story of one of my first home visits with Bonnie, our team nurse. I remember sitting on the floor observing and interacting with the baby while Bonnie was sitting on the couch talking with the mother. Initially, I was annoyed that Bonnie wasn't assessing the child's needs, but quickly recognized that the conversation and relationship with the mother was the most important part of the visit. Leslie: When I moved into an administrative position in the public schools in the early 2000s, I worked collaboratively with guidance counselors in the high schools for students with disabilities could have more equal access to academics and extracurricular activities. In these public schools I thoroughly enjoyed my role as a team leader, facilitating meetings with parents and staff to create appropriate educational programs for each student. Leslie: The teamwork during my early intervention years and some relationships built at that time remained today. There have been several reunions over the years. We rallied over Zoom during the beginning of the pandemic to honor our colleague, Bonnie, who had passed away and had been a mentor for many of us. We recently had a physical reunion just a couple of months ago, about a dozen women, some from out of state. In addition to discussing everyone's current activities and families, the conversation always comes back to what great work we did in those early years and how important that teamwork was to our success. Previous Next

< Back Savannah's Story Savannah speaks with Dennis about her experience living and working in Washington, DC the summer after her freshman year of college. Savannah discusses her determination to experience somewhere new, and how she was able to make it happen for herself. In her story, she touches on themes of loneliness, independence, family and friendship. Savannah reminds us that while independence is a virtue, we can all use some support to get where we're going. 00:00 / 03:57 So when I was looking at colleges, UMass was just sort of what made the most sense. But I also don't think it was expecting to have, I guess, the tough year that I did. I think UMass is a very big school. And it's an easy place to sort of get lost in. And I was really used to being at home in my hometown in my community that was so familiar. And I had a good group of friends and a good kind of support system. And I kind of went from that to go into this big place that was super vast, where no one's really keeping track of you or worrying about you. And I definitely felt lonely. So at the end of that year, I kind of knew that I had to do something different with my summer, I knew that I needed something that was a little bit more of a leap for me something that was challenging and new. And so I was like, okay, great, it's time to figure out how I'm going to spend the summer. So I ended up applying to an internship program in Washington, DC and spend two months of my summer living there is a really well set up program. And I think what draw me what drew me to it was it was pulling students from across the country around the world to which was really exciting to me. And I think the concept of the program gave me a little bit of the community that I knew I needed. And so once I kind of set my sights on that, at the end of my freshman year, that gave me a little bit of vigor, a little bit of excitement that I think I needed, then it was just time to kind of decide and figure out how I was going to make that happen for myself, I knew that this was going to be a good program, but I had to, like pay for the housing, I had to pay for some of the programming fee and things like that. My next kind of step was I have to find scholarships, I learned quickly that there's money floating around universities and floating around for a lot of the things that you want to do. People just tend to not know that those scholarships, those grants, those things are there. And so they don't look for them. So I made it my goal to find this funding to get me to DC. So that's what I did. I ended up applying to so many scholarships, writing so many essays, and all these different things. So I did get there, I always remember just like sitting on the plane and like taking a breath and being like, Wow, I can't believe I can, if I pull this together, it's amazing. And so from there it was, it was a really wonderful experience. I loved DC living there gave me kind of my first taste of like, what you would maybe call adult life. But I kind of got all I think the best parts of it. I think reflecting the important parts were the social parts and getting to be somewhere new and getting to kind of fulfill the plan that I had for myself, I think maybe twofold. I think I came back with some confidence. And I definitely learned that I had the ability to kind of dictate my environment and kind of get myself out of the funk that I was in, I think was really important. I can definitely see that I've grown in that way. I definitely hold on to that determination that I had and know that it's like still in me, how are you feeling about this next transition? And what do you see is coming next. So I've definitely been pretty stressed about my next transition. I think part of it is because this is something that I never would have, I think believed my freshman year but I have such a good and rich life here at UMass and in Amherst, that I think it feels intimidating to think about moving that somewhere new and even meeting new people. I think I am so kind of comfortable where I am. So I think making that transition is a little bit scary. But I also know that I have done it before when I went to DCA essentially picked myself up and moved to a new city for a couple months. And now it's just kind of doing the same thing, but for a little longer. And so I think I'm trying to harness that sort of can do attitude that I lose a little bit sometimes. And so I kind of try to take that from my summer, and I'm trying to kind of be hopeful and positive and excited. And I think that will serve me well. Previous Next