The Elusive Feeling of Safety
It was dark when they left. They walked and walked, women, children, parents, elders, through the woods, up hills, until his feet hurt and his grandfather had to scoop
Category: Survivor
And The Quartet Played On
“Outside the monster raged with flaming nostrils. But inside there was tranquility. The melancholy notes of Albinoni’s adagio drifted into every corner of the room,
A Rabbi After All: Fulfilling a Calling
By the time he was seven, Eliezer Schwartz had already learned that if he ran fast enough and threw a lot of stones, he could protect himself from the schoolyard […]
Tears for the Country He Left
In a small town in the northwest part of Cambodia called Chongkal, the 5-year-old boy could not cry. His father had been taken by Khmer Rouge soldiers, bound for
Turning Pain Into Ambition
Lisa Amani is a driven 18-year-old. This fall, she will start her first year at University of Oregon, with $130,000 worth of scholarships.
Tending a Garden and Her Dreams
Salsabel Al Masri’s garden was the center of her world. She and her five brothers spent every day after school chasing each other among the olive, orange, apple,
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,”
A Whirlwind of Unsettlement
This is a story of a man whose determination, courage, ability to deal with unexpected adversity, and willingness to take risks brought him from war-torn Iraq
Leaving a Land of Chaos
Toys are everywhere in the small apartment in Vancouver, Washington. A sheet of paper posted at a child’s eye level shows the first, impressive attempts of a
Like A Modern Day Odysseus
Homer’s Odysseus took 20 years to return to his native land from the Trojan War, battling hostile forces, deceiving enemies, even changing identities to stay alive.
Keeping a Culture Alive
“I was looking down, down, down into a deep canyon filled with ice,” remembers Tsering Choephel. “But I knew I was safe because I was snuggled into a warm
Abdi Nor Iftin: Call Him American
Abdi Nor Iftin knew just what America would look like. It would look like a giant New York City. Tall, tall buildings would soar to the sky. Humans would scurry
From Survival to Triumph
There are survivalists who stockpile food and weapons against what they see as the coming apocalypse. Then there are survivors, such as Amida Kyanza, born in
Painting his way around the world
On a Wednesday afternoon in 2003, Samir Khurshid burned his own painting. The rest of his 480 works were also destroyed that year, he said, in his hometown of Tus, […]
Learning to See a Future
“I’m never going to get out of this place,” AyeChan May thought as a young teenager. In Mae Ra Moe refugee camp in Thailand where she grew up, she saw […]