This article investigates recollections of place attachments among a sample of Somali Bantu women refugees who have resettled in a town in New York State, USA. Using photo-elicitation and narrative interviews we explored their recollections of place attachments in Somalia, their home of origin, in Kenya, where they lived in refugee camps for more than a decade and in community gardens in New York State. We asked about memories of farms in Somalia, of gardens in the Kenyan camps and of the community gardens in resettlement because we were interested in the role of green space in their experiences of displacement and resettlement. Green spaces were important in all three locations but especially with respect to the therapeutic, restorative and spiritual capacities in the gardens in both the camps in Kenya and in resettlement in the United States. The results of this research suggest that emplacement and meaning making in green spaces through farms and gardens in Somalia, in camps, and in community gardens in resettlement served a variety of palliative functions. © 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

place attachment green space resettlement Nature Somali Bantu Refugee

greenspace resettlement policy refugee ethnic minority United States womens status New York [United States]