Pamela Benjamin - WKTV Journal

Pamela Benjamin came to the U.S. from Australia on a spousal visa only to discover she couldn’t even check out a library book.

Angelique Mugabekazi fled the atrocities of the Rwandan genocide when she was five years old, then struggled to survive daily life in a lawless refugee camp.

Grand Rapids native Donna Troost remembers a rubber shortage during World War II and the time her dad had to get permission from the government so that she could ride her bicycle to school.

Three women with very different backgrounds—and one thing in common: Each shared her unique journey with WKTV’s VOICES, a personal and family oral history project. The project’s mission is “to collect, share and preserve the narratives of people in our community”—of our lives; of people from all walks of life.

Oral history—the collection and study of individual histories, experiences of disasters, important events or everyday life—is a tradition as old as civilization itself. Using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews, oral history strives to obtain information from different perspectives, most of which cannot be found in written sources. Some academics consider oral history akin to journalism as both are committed to uncovering truths and compiling narratives about people, places, and events.

Since its launch in September 2017 at ArtPrize Nine, VOICES has collected the conversations of people from a myriad of places, such as Indonesia, Kenya, Rwanda, Australia, Spain, as well as the U.S. (California and Michigan (including Wyoming, Grand Rapids, and Lansing).

VOICES’s vintage 1958 Airstream® trailer has been made into a mobile studio

A free public service, VOICES travels throughout the West Michigan region to encourage neighbors, friends and family to tell their stories—the narratives that make us human—of our lives, experiences, sorrows, triumphs and tragedies. We all benefit from knowing each other’s background; the shared bond that helps us build community.

VOICES offers a comfortable, mobile video recording studio with a relaxed atmosphere, and utilizes high-tech video and audio equipment to capture the narratives for posterity. Conversations usually take place between two people who know and care about each other. These can be friends, family, or mere acquaintances. Any topic may be explored, whether a specific event in a person’s life, a childhood memory, a family tragedy—no subject is off limits.

Those who step inside VOICES’s 1958 Airstream trailer—outfitted as a mobile studio— are welcomed into an inviting atmosphere to sit back, relax, and have a conversation. All VOICES conversations are audio- and video-recorded to provide participants with a link to each conversation and for possible airing on Channel 25 in Wyoming, Kentwood and Gaines Township (U-Verse Channel 99).

VOICES participants find the experience valuable and gratifying.

“I hope that people will listen to my story and learn what it’s like to come from a different country—what we had to do to come to America,” said Lana Lie, who emigrated to the U.S. from Indonesia.

Jimmy King, who shared his experiences as a young man with autism, said, “The experience was absolutely incredible. They really listened to me and had a genuine interest in my voice.”

Every second Saturday, VOICES is at Marge’s Donut Den at 1751 28th St, SW for ‘Second Saturday at Marge’s’. The next date is April 14. It’s free, just go here to reserve a time.

By Victoria Mullen, WKTV

Meet Pamela Benjamin, who shared her experiences with VOICES back in November of 2017. Benjamin’s animated personality made an already interesting saga that much richer.

Always an independent soul, Benjamin had traveled by ship from New Zealand to Australia on her way to Canada when she was 25 years old. She never got further than Sydney, where she met future husband Craig, who had stopped by Benjamin’s group house to give her friend, Tina, a flute lesson. Benjamin was in the kitchen baking a cake at the time.

“I gave him a piece of cake and he asked us to the movies,” said Benjamin. Tina and another man joined them.

That night, the course of Benjamin’s history changed. During dinner, the second man read her palm and asked Benjamin if he could speak to her privately.

“He told me that Craig and I would be happily married for a long time and have two children,” she said. “I told him, ‘Don’t be stupid, we just met at lunchtime.'”

The Benjamins have now been married over 40 years and have three children. (Nobody’s perfect, not even palm readers.)

The Benjamins emigrated to the United States — and Grand Rapids, specifically — in 2003 so that Craig (affectionately called “CB”) could accept a job offer at Grand Valley State University teaching Big History, an academic discipline which examines history from the Big Bang to the present.

“We came here because there were no jobs for professors in Australia,” Benjamin said. “Craig went from being a professional musician and high school band director to teaching Big History at GVSU.”

Benjamin found the move challenging in several respects, the most drastic of which was the threat to her independence. Although Craig had an H-1B visa, Pamela was dismayed to discover that her status as his spouse was essentially that of a ‘nonperson’. She couldn’t check out library books. She couldn’t get a driver’s license. Everything was different, including the grocery store; nothing looked familiar.

She felt isolated. Making art helped. So, too, did writing. But something more was needed. Something warm and fuzzy.

“I got a puppy,” said Benjamin. “It was a lifesaver.”

Today, Benjamin holds citizenship in three countries — New Zealand, Australia and the United States. She and Craig travel the world; she continues to make art; and she chronicles her life, family and their journeys on her blog.

Listen to Benjamin’s VOICES conversation here.

Share your story with VOICES. It’s easy — just go here to reserve a time!