Sankar Raman

Call Me Dr. Olive Bukuru

When Olive Bukuru was six months old her and her family fled their home country of Burundi in search of a safe life. They ended up in a refugee camp 

Making Changes By Degrees

As a little girl growing up in a refugee camp in Tanzania, Olive and her friends would walk almost an hour to school, often filling their empty stomachs  

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  

Jim Lommasson

Hands, Mtabila Camp, Tanzania

Belise Nishimwe: Bird Call He taught me how to wrap my hands into one like two seas that clash with one another to form a cave  

Sankar Raman

There is still work to do

Divine Irambona loves to challenge herself. Maybe because her life was a struggle from the moment she was born. Her mother died shortly after giving birth to

Sankar Raman

Finding Courage in the Unfamiliar

When Japhety Ngabireyimana landed in the United States at age nine, he thought he was seeing ghosts. “I was surrounded by a bunch of white people at the airport,”

Sankar Raman

Dignity in Helping Others

One might not expect someone who has been bullied and shot at to pour all her energy into helping others. But Divine has been defying odds and expectations

Sankar Raman

Hope for a New Generation

Jenny Munezero was two months old the night the soldiers attacked, and the only one left alive in her family’s house. “To this day nobody knows why I wasn’t killed. […]

Elayna Yussen

Speaking Out: From Poetry to Politics

Don’t let 17-year-old Belise Nishimwe’s petite stature fool you. Measuring in at just 4 feet 9.5 inches tall, she is bursting with confidence, charisma and big ideas

Sankar Raman

Be Whoever You Want to Be

Like her journey as a refugee, becoming who she is today has not been easy for Irakoze Diane. That is why “Irakoze” is not just a name — it is a […]

Sankar Raman

Let Nothing Hold You Back

Beneath the star-studded sky of Makamba, Burundi, 6-month-old Olive Bukuru clung to her father’s hip as they fled on foot for roughly 100 miles to Tanzania.

Kim Oanh Nguyen

When A Dream is Born

Walking down the halls of his middle school, Wilson Nitunga was eating an apple. The bell rang, and students around him rushed to class. A teacher approached