[A woman sings a traditional Somali song a cappella] ♪ Ga gaceylka qalad kiyo qosara ha did ♪ ♪ Qasara ha u diidin ♪ ♪ Qosal beenta u jarin ♪ [Gentle, uplifting acoustic string music begins playing in the background] [Speaker 1]: Nature is right on my doorstep where I'm from. My father, he would take us into the cane field and he would dig out the cane from underneath the bottom. And then he will beat them and juice them and full up the bucket will take them back home. I remember those happy times. [Speaker 2]: All right? Yeah. [Speaker 3]: How was Ramadan? [Speaker 2]: Good. [Speaker 4]: I think back home, the whole village coming together. The elders telling us stories and there's this bonfire. [Speaker 5]: In Southern Africa, we don't have yam. We use cassava. So they will peel it and then, the same method that you described but they use cassava instead. [Speaker 6]: It is similar in Nigeria too... [Speaker 7]: For everybody once you’re connecting with nature, I think there's a pathway to then thinking about nature that I've connected with in the past. [Speaker 4]: Like with the banana, the plantain, the yam, the fish... The feeling that often comes up is back home. [Speaker 7]: The feeling that often comes up is back home. [The acoustic music gently fades out] [Speaker 7]: Our World Heritage. But if you look at Greenwich world heritage, I don't think you find much Nigeria, Trinidad, Zambia in Greenwich at the moment, is not visible. So what you're doing? [Speaker 8]: The project is exploring and sharing the heritage of a very diverse group of women from maybe ten different countries. [Speaker 7]: What we will be doing on this walk is bringing voices, the sounds, the stories of the world... [Speaker 8]: The work we’ve done has been to spend time to explore the heritage of each woman and then sharing it through a short story walk in the world heritage landscape of Greenwich. [Speaker 7]: Hospital, Palace, Museum. That is our stage. Or your stage. We'll find a place… [The uplifting acoustic string music resumes] [Speaker 7]: We've been meeting every Tuesday for six, seven months. Bit by bit, people have discovered what aspects of their heritage they would like to share. There are some personal stories, and then there are more historic, researched stories. [Speaker 9]: Cutty Sark was specially built for a Chinese tea business trip… [The music gently slowly fades out] [Speaker 10]: I'm talking about my dad as well. He is employed by the British Army. So when he was, like, 16 years old, he served almost most of his life working for the British people and then, he is now here because we were allowed to come and join as British army children. [Speaker 11]: The story of my journey. When I was in Africa, my husband said he loved me. That was the last word I heard from him before our car ran into this truck and crashed. [Sound of a fire crackling] My husband’s people chased me away and said I’m a witch, that my husband died, wasn’t supposed to die. So I took all my three children. I was from one place to another. I found myself in United Kingdom. It took me 20 years to get my stay in this country. [Speaker 12]: Do you remember how we were saying that we would like, even one of them, somebody, especially in a position of authority to come and be in rooms like this. You know, it's hard to trust them, but we need them to be in rooms like this because all they see is numbers. So it's like they have no emotion. They don't care. You know, they look at your paperwork, half of them don't even read the stuff that we send them, the stuff that the lawyers, they just say, no, no, no, no, no. But to every number there is a story, many many stories, thousands and thousands and thousands of stories. People don't just leave their homes back home just to come here and say, oh, I just want to get benefits. No, that's not the truth. [A group of women begin singing and clapping rhythmically] ♪ Siyahamba ekukhanyeni kwenkos ♪ ♪ Siyahamba ekukhanyeni kwenkos ♪ ♪ Siyahamba, siyahamba, Siyahamba ekukhanyeni kwenkos ♪ [Traditional rhythmic hand-drumming begins playing] [Speaker 3]: My great grandfather was one of the major person that deal with the slaves. They used this cowrie to buy slaves. [Speaker 13]: And one of the restrictions was no African drumming. The slaves cannot use drums. [Speaker 1]: And that land doesn’t run by the government. It’s run by a private, it’s run by Nanny’s ancestors, you know, like the coming up generation… [Uplifting orchestral music] [Speaker 1]: Heritage is what you have been through, you come through and we’re still going through. [Speaker 13]: Although we come from different places, we all collect together. She's from Brazil, she’s from Nepal, I'm from the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago, She's from Zambia and South Africa. It's all of us together. We all here. [Speaker 4]: If you look at the sky and if you go to Nigeria, you look at the same sky. Is there any difference? [Speakers]: No difference. [Speaker 4]: So it’s to show that the world is the same. [Speaker 14]: I'm sitting here. She make me happy, I’m sitting with my family. [Speaker 4]: The world is a place that we should integrate. When you learn different cultures, you are able to know how to respect, to accept one another. [A mix of acoustic strings, rhythmic drumming, and singing swells, then gently fades out as the video credits roll] [On-Screen Text and Video Credits] This film was co-created with Creating Ground members and local Historian & Storyteller, Rich Sylvester as part of the Exploring & Sharing Our Heritage project funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. [On-screen quotes appear alongside photographs taken at various stages of the project. The images mainly feature the women, as well as scenes from the storywalks and audience members, including DMCS deaf community.] “This project has given me the opportunity to showcase Trinidad and Tobago and the rich culture and heritage it has to offer. It has given me the space to feel proud of my cultural legacy... It was inspiring to learn from one another and celebrate the diversity of our backgrounds and experiences.” (Project member, June 2026) "Being part of this project and telling my story helped build up my confidence. It made me proud of my Gurkha heritage and helped preserve our history for future generations." (Project member, June 2026) “By presenting the Nalikwanda Royal Barge of the Lozi people alongside the Prince Frederick Royal Barge, I was able to compare two important cultural symbols from different parts of the world. This helped me develop my research, presentation skills, while also increasing my confidence in speaking about my own identity and background.” (Project member, June 2026) "Thank you wonderful ladies for sharing your stories, for all the links you found between British and your own heritage, for your personal stories and memories. Who knows maybe you have created a new story walk for people to learn and discover Greenwich in a different way and from a different perspective" (Storywalk audience member, May 2026) Featuring Exploring and Sharing Our Heritage Group Members: Aldjia Koucem, Alex Santana, Crystal Pedro, Elizabeth A. Ayanda, Elizabeth Dada, Esther, Felicia Apata, Joy, Karen Harris, Lian Che, Luul Abdi, Nirmala Thapa Magar, Sibati Shalala, Titilayo. Cinematography and Sound: Sohaila Ferrier, Elspeth Parsons, Shabnam Nimi Divingele. Editing: Alexandra Meneghini. Production: Managed by Anna Merryfield on behalf of Anima Goli Films. Music: Ga gaceylka qalad kiyo qosara ha did, Performed by Luul Percussion by Michele Chowrimootoo from Everyday Magic Strings by Master Minded A Journeys Epilogue by Yehezkel Raz Celebration by Dan Zeitune Hymn by Borden Lulu Special Thanks To: Rich Sylvester, Project Facilitator and Lucie Vyhnaliková, Project Officer for expertly guiding the group through the process. All the women who were part of this project and part of Creating Ground for so beautifully weaving your personal journeys and diverse cultures into the local history of Greenwich, showing us all how our roots connect us. Project Volunteers, Aldjia and Lian for keeping us refreshed and on track! Deaf Multilingual Community Support (DMCS) Deaf Support Signer, Mehdi Mahbaz, and British Sign Language English Interpreter, Gemma Lehane. Horniman Museum Community Engagement, Pl0t9 Maze Hill Andy M, and Royal Museums Greenwich Community Access. Rose Knight for connecting everyone to ensure the project ran so smoothly. Laura Marziale for always encouraging us all to shine! [Logos appear on screen] Made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Creating Ground, and Anima Goli Films.