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.
Category: Survivor
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 […]
“I Lived to Tell the World”
The guy on the MAX train shot an angry glare at a younger man sitting nearby. Emmanuel Turaturanye was dressed in the plaid shirt and down jacket of the Pacific […]
Putting Passion Into Work and Play
Van Tran makes pho so good, she has customers who have been returning to her restaurant for 28 years — even after her restaurant moved. Tran was born in Saigon
From Bullets to Building
Marbles, three books of short Kurdish stories written in Arabic, and two AK-47 rounds. “With war always going on, those were my trophies (to take with me),”
Taking the Opportunity to Shine
Jeanette Amisi Mmunga was born Tosha Kitungano, but has decided to answer to a new name — one she chose for herself. Mmunga was born Feb. 19, 2001,