Sankar Raman

Be a Blade of Grass, Not a Tall Tree

Among a total of 13 siblings, it was Sivheng who most resembled their father. Kilin Ung  was a businessman who traded in the teak and rosewood

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

Finding His Footing on the Pitch

Wilondja Mashimango spent his childhood on the soccer field. One day on the pitch, he heard someone greet him and turned around to reply. However, what he

Sankar Raman

The Architect of Her Own Future

It was her birthday, an especially happy one because she got to see her mom. Johana Amani and her sister rarely saw their mother because

Sankar Raman

Doing Everything With Her Own Hands

Ayan Salat can teach you all about scorpions. She can make fluffy injera bread and cook meals for an entire household. Ayan could ghost-write your next

Sankar Raman

Love in the Midst of Mayhem

It was a simple wedding and, but for the bombs exploding outside, a quiet one. She wore a plain gray skirt, a white blouse and a white hijab befitting a […]

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

Fleeing a 21st Century Genocide

It was such an idyllic childhood for Mohammed Husson Ali. Nearly all the 1300 families in the Burmese village of Myo Thu Gyi were farmers.

Sankar Raman

Something To Be Proud Of

Felix Songolo does not remember much of what he left behind in Africa.  His family left the Democratic Republic of Congo before he was born

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

Sankar Raman

Counting on Math and Soccer

Mussa doesn’t remember much from the night his father was killed. From where he stood in his crib he could hear men’s voices in the room next door,

Sankar Raman

Reprogrammed Like a Cell Phone

Amidst the thick darkness of a city just before sunrise on the day he arrived in Portland, Abdulelah Aldabea imagined his brain was an iPhone restoring to

A Resilient Daughter of the Arab Spring

When Rama Yousef was born in the Syrian capital of Damascus in 1999, her father cursed and cried tears of frustration. She was his fourth child and not the son […]

Sankar Raman

Come Up and Speak Up

When Hameda Dil Mohamed, 21, spoke in Pioneer Square last September at a rally in support of Rohingya refugees she hoped  

Katy Weaver

Rebuilding Her Life to Reconcile

One of Dijana’s earliest memories is of sleeping in the woods with her family. They weren’t camping for fun though — they were hiding. “We were attacked in Bosnia