A Resilient Daughter of the Arab Spring

Rama Youssef was 12 years old when she left Syria, escaping violence caused by the beginning of the Syrian Civil War. But life didn’t get easier for Rama when 

Sankar Raman

Jewish Children Please Stand Up

Leslie and Eva Aigner’s childhood were marked by horror. Born in different parts of Czechoslovakia as Nazi soldiers took hold, the two took very different paths to  

Nyibol Bior

Living the World in Color

In February, 2021, Nyibol Bior published a children’s book called “My Beautiful Colors.” She chose the title because, “Colors are metaphors  

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 […]

Sankar Raman

A Life Shaped by War

Tim Tran is quite the jokester.  “Old professors never die,” he told an otherwise serious meeting at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon.  

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  

Sankar Raman

Leave Home and Don’t Come Back

Reza Uddin was born in the epicenter of the Burmese government’s ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims. For the first years of his life,  

Souleymane Adam

A Way Around Closed Doors

“Always find a way to climb back up,” says Souleymane Adam, reflecting on what he has learned as a survivor of genocide. “And not back up to where we came […]

Sankar Raman

A Continued Love for Learning

As Rekesh Subedi’s family prepared to leave Nepal for the United States, he talked excitedly with his friend about travelling on planes. “I told him, when you see a plane […]

John Rudoff

Finally A Place to Call Home

Every time someone asks May Lui Tike where she’s from, she answers: “I am not from anywhere.”  She has a good reason for this response:  

John Rudoff

A Key To The American Dream

“I was pregnant when the U.S. invaded,” recalls Murooj Alshawi. “When I heard the bombs, I started shaking and didn’t even feel my daughter in my stomach.