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
Category: Survivor
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,
Once Home, Now a Jungle
For the first 18 years of his life, Reza Uddin was a citizen of Burma, now officially known as Myanmar. And then, suddenly, he was not. That’s because Uddin is […]
Dignity in Helping Others
One might not expect someone who has been bullied and shot at to pour all her energy into helping others. But Divine has been defying odds and expectations
Hope for a New Generation
Jenny Munezero was two months old the night the soldiers attacked, and the only one left alive in her family’s house. “To this day nobody knows why I wasn’t killed. […]
Creating New Narratives
When Naskah Zada immigrated from Iraq to the U.S. in the fall of 1997, she was expecting to eat pizza in front of a big-screen television in either a mansion […]
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
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
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
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