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 […]

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

Hands, Mtabila Camp, Tanzania

Belise Nishimwe: Bird Call He taught me how to wrap my hands into one like two seas that clash with one another to form a cave  

John Rudoff

Fleeing Hatred, Finding Home

The sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church in Southwest Portland is a cavernous space, and on Aug. 16, 1958,  the pews bulged as Evelyn Diamant  

Karen Weliky

A Nation Without Borders

Shabnam Rostami stood in her backyard with her children, watching the Oregon International Air Show. Suddenly, childhood memories  

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,  

Sankar Raman

Standing Firm Against Persecution

For as long as she can remember, her Asian features had made Hadia Sadiqi a target for ostracism in her native Afghanistan. Anyone who saw her knew instantly  

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.  

Sankar Raman

There is still work to do

Divine Irambona loves to challenge herself. Maybe because her life was a struggle from the moment she was born. Her mother died shortly after giving birth to

Sankar Raman

Say Goodbye to All Your Problems

It’s 2010 and Johana Amani is 10 years old. She is speeding through the Congo in the middle of the night on the back of a stranger’s motorcycle. She and […]