The Uyghur American Association organized a visual storytelling workshop for Uyghur youth under the supervision of the American artist and human rights activist Erika Berg. Young Uyghurs learned how to express their personal stories, emotions, and experiences through painting and other visual mediums. Participants were not professional artists; their paintings were authentic and reflected their personal struggles in life. Most of the paintings had similar themes: longing for home, fear of detention and the concentration camps, the inability to communicate with family members, and dreaming of returning home one day. It was a way of revealing both the pain and hope in their hearts.