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

Learning How to Change the World

At four years old, already aiming  to “fix things,” Milen Gebreamlak decided she would become president of Eritrea to make things better.

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

Tea Pot and Glass, Homs, Syria

Ola Helal: This kettle is my favorite. I brought it from my country on 5/29/2008. We like tea, and when we left our home we took this kettle with us.

Headphones In, Hate Speech Out

Farhia’s path to her new home in Portland called for courage and resourcefulness. She has faced repeated harassment about her skin color and her hijab

Paint Tubes, Baghdad, Iraq

Hussein Alkhudhari: And when it was Impossible for me to carry my mother; my palm tree and my home; and all those faces that I love; instead I carried my

I Heart Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq

Iman Shati: This pottery form includes on it many traces from Iraq’s great history, Malyaia Sammarra, Lion of Babylon, Ziggurat Ur, and Ishtar Gate.

Flip Flops, Basrah, Iraq

Mujtaba Ashour: I am Mujtaba 15 years old, I bought these shoes from Al-Ashar in Basrah 5 years ago. I could not believe that I will travel to USA one […]

Photograph, Bozan, Nieveh, Iraq

Diyar Al Khalo: This picture was taken back on Feb 11, 2013 while I was praying at Lalish temple. I prayed for the whole world to be safe and sound. […]

Choosing Survival, Again and Again

When your world is torn apart around you, you have to decide whether to give up or to keep going. Peter Magai Bul has had to make that decision a […]

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 […]

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.

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

A Lifetime Across Canvases

Even in primary school, Farooq Hassan remembers, “I would copy pictures of cartoons or pictures of kings and presidents of that time.” 

Dinner Plate, Baghdad, Iraq

Susan Birwary: We ate on this plate since childhood and on every holiday until 2005, when I left to go to the south of Iraq, then to Syria, and then […]