Students in Elizabeth Rush's Swearer Center-funded class, Testimony, conducted interviews with greater Providence community members to explore "how...the creative nonfiction writer bear[s] witness to profound political, social and environmental change." Lauren Black '18 interviewed Central Falls resident Javier Restrepo and created the video below for the course. 

"Javier Restrepo is from Colombia. He's been living in the US for thirty-seven years, and in some ways he feels more American than Colombian, but his parents still live in Medellín. Staying in touch with them used to be expensive and difficult. Now Javier talks and texts with his parents every day, but it's still not the same as being in the same place. To make this piece, I talked with Javier about living far from family, and then spent a day with him, during which he treated my recorder as if it were his parents, bringing them along with him to church, a favorite coffee shop and a family meal. This was then sent back to them as an audio postcard."

Watch Lauren's video, Hola Desde Central Falls, on Vimeo.