Jim Lommasson

Coffee Cup, Juba, South Sudan

Rudwan Dawon: More than 11 years ago, when I was leaving my beloved country of Sudan, my colleagues from Juba University gave me this tiny cup for coffee.  

Jim Lommasson

Baby Clothes, Damascus, Syria

Rama Youssef: When I was 12 years old and getting ready to move to America, I made sure to bring this jumper with me. All my older sisters wore it […]

Jim Lommasson

Qur’an, Sarajevo, Bosnia

Imam Abdulah Polovina: This is the opening part of the holy Qur’an that I brought with me from Bosnia and Herzegovina where it shows my birth

Jim Lommasson

Books, Sarajevo, Bosnia

Imam Abdulah Polovina: This is the photo of an old collection of Mawlid poems and recitations. The term Mawlid is part of the daily vocabulary of the Muslim population  

Jim Lommasson

Ceremony Bowl, Cambodia

Sivheng Ung: My mother’s silver ceremony bowl.  This kind of silver bowl, my mom used it to collect blessing water or for special occasions such as weddings  

Jim Lommasson

Wedding Photograph, Rwanda

Emmanuel Turaturanye: My father preached that Easter Sunday, April 3, 1994 The genocide started that Thursday, April 7. My family was killed the following day, 

Jim Lommasson

Viola, Sarajevo, Yugoslavia

Dijana Ihas: This is the photo of my viola that my parents bought for me when I was 14 years young. I carried this instrument first, for 7 hours  

Jim Lommasson

Jewish Passport, Vienna, Austria

Evelyn Banko: My parents and I were already in Riya, Latvia on October 5, 1938 when all German passports held by Jews became invalid and had to be sent to […]

Jim Lommasson

Books and Belt, Vienna, Austria

Evelyn Banko: When the Nazis occupied Austria in 1936, my parents hoped they would be able to leave Vienna for a safer country.

Jim Lommasson

Prayer Book, Rachu, Tibet

Tsering Dolma: This prayer book was one of my father’s oldest daily prayer book that I received from my late eldest brother. I brought it from Nepal when I went

Jim Lommasson

Fabric, Nyarugusu, Tanzania

Jeanette Amisi Mmunga: when the world unravels before you and even your dreams are crumbling stones when everything you dare to touch is set on fire and all  

Jim Lommasson

Birth Certificate, Goma, DRC

Johana Amani: I lost my birth certificate while fleeing for safety from my home country Congo, DRC. I never thought I would lose my sense of belonging  

Jim Lommasson

Bowl, Central African Republic

Mariamou’s Abdoulye: It’s called tummude and we use it to hold milk. In the Fulani tradition we use it every morning to milking our cows or where we carry the […]

Jim Lommasson

Shirt, Makamba, Burundi

Olive Bukuru: This was the shirt I was wearing when my family first got on the 1st bus from Nduta Camp to another camp to be screened before we arrived […]

Jim Lommasson

Dodge Ball, Kanembwa, Tanzania

Divine Irambona: Life in the camp was hard for me. The only thing that kept me excited was playing a game with my friends. My favorite game was dodgeball