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American Refuge: True Stories of the Refugee Experience
A provocative, conversation-sparking exploration of refugee experiences told in their own words, for readers of Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s The Undocumented Americans and Viet Thanh Nguyen
Forced to leave their homes, they came to America
In this intimate and eye-opening book, Diya Abdo—daughter of refugees, U.S. immigrant, English professor, and activist—shares the stories of seven refugees. Coming from around the world, they’re welcomed by Every Campus A Refuge (ECAR), an organization Diya founded to leverage existing resources at colleges to provide temporary shelter to refugee families.Bookended by Diya’s powerful essay "Radical Hospitality" and the inspiring coda “Names and Numbers,” each chapter weaves the individual stories into a powerful journey along a common theme:
• Life Before (“The Body Leaves its Soul Behind”)
• The Moment of Rupture(“Proof and Persecution”)
• The Journey (“Right Next Door”)
• Arrival/Resettlement(“Back to the Margins”)
• A Few Years Later (“From Camp to Campus”)
The lives explored in American Refuge include the artist who, before he created the illustration on the cover of this book, narrowly escaped two assassination attempts in Iraq and now works at Tyson cutting chicken.
We learn that these refugees from Burma, Burundi, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, and Uganda lived in homes they loved, left against their will, moved to countries without access or rights, and were among the 1% of the "lucky" few to resettle after a long wait, almost certain never to return to the homes they never wanted to leave. We learn that anybody, at any time, can become a refugee.
- GenresNonfictionMemoir
176 pages, Paperback
First published September 6, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
April 19, 2024
Anybody can become a refugee.
The terms refugee, immigrant, migrant, asylum seeker, and undocumented are used interchangeably, and the conflating terms result in ideological stances that have real and negative consequences. This ideological framework gets extended to refugees fermented by the political rhetoric that can forcibly displace individuals seeking succor at our borders as bad. Such dangerous linguistic cries 'worthy of extermination'.
If we would put ourselves in the shoes of a refugee, having to flee a home that we love but has become dangerous, hostile, and deadly, we would understand the barriers we would face if we sought a safe haven in a new country foreign to us. We couldn't comprehend the scope of adjusting to 'everything' new.
Human beings have always moved - and they have done so largely to survive. The story of human migration is twin to the story of humanity. This book left me in a pool of tears. The stories compiled by Diya Abdo are real. The refugees featured in this book once lived in homes and countries they loved but left against their will to relocate to foreign territory which was never something they chose to do. There are cases where one can be a refugee in their own country. One does not always become a refugee, many times they are born a refugee.
Diya Abdo introduces us to refugees who carried trauma by reluctantly leaving their homes, families, and countries and relocating to new homes, which led to cultural misunderstandings as they resettled in the United States. The stories of the seven refugees who were welcomed by an organization Diya founded, Every Campus A Refuge (ECAR) leveraged resources at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Diya outlines some interesting facts about camp life that I was not aware of:
- 99% of refugees never resettle. They live the rest of their lives, and their children live the rest of their lives in camps or camp-like conditions in countries right next door.
- Camp life is a cannon-sized hole in the wall and shared fears.
- Camp life is a war again, just like the one that brought them there.
- Camp life tries to be like real life, but it is not. It haunts and disfigures. It dismantles and distorts.
Less than 1% carry their disparate selves yet again strike out for lands unknown, hoping to find a home.
Not everyone is welcoming of the influx of refugees who have been exiled. It is horrible that those who have become refugees have been racialized. To flee your home country to save your life and that of your family because of your race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion is traumatic. Having no idea what to expect on the other side of their long, arduous journey is difficult, scary, and exhausting for these newcomers.
Some view refugees with the assumption that they are or should be happy to be in this country. But this assumption can blind us from seeing how resettlement is incredibly difficult, and people frame them as ungrateful if they do not exhibit our "normal" expectations. There is the fear of an unimaginable unknown as if you are looking into the darkness, eyes unseeing. Refugees cannot go back to their country of origin for fear of losing their lives and therefore require international protection.
The arrogance of assumptions does not recognize the challenges refugees face when they first arrive and the language barriers that make it even more difficult. Mistreatment, abuse, exploitation, and racism are elements that leave them feeling traumatized and helpless.
Human bodies on the move don't always take their souls with them. Sometimes they leave their souls behind. Their bodies, finding no other way to serve, split themselves from their souls. Their hope is fragile not knowing whether they will meet their souls again after waving goodbye. This expression is echoed throughout the stories that Diya speaks about. For a greater understanding of the real side of what being a refugee entails, I recommend this book to add to your reading challenge.
The terms refugee, immigrant, migrant, asylum seeker, and undocumented are used interchangeably, and the conflating terms result in ideological stances that have real and negative consequences. This ideological framework gets extended to refugees fermented by the political rhetoric that can forcibly displace individuals seeking succor at our borders as bad. Such dangerous linguistic cries 'worthy of extermination'.
If we would put ourselves in the shoes of a refugee, having to flee a home that we love but has become dangerous, hostile, and deadly, we would understand the barriers we would face if we sought a safe haven in a new country foreign to us. We couldn't comprehend the scope of adjusting to 'everything' new.
Human beings have always moved - and they have done so largely to survive. The story of human migration is twin to the story of humanity. This book left me in a pool of tears. The stories compiled by Diya Abdo are real. The refugees featured in this book once lived in homes and countries they loved but left against their will to relocate to foreign territory which was never something they chose to do. There are cases where one can be a refugee in their own country. One does not always become a refugee, many times they are born a refugee.
Diya Abdo introduces us to refugees who carried trauma by reluctantly leaving their homes, families, and countries and relocating to new homes, which led to cultural misunderstandings as they resettled in the United States. The stories of the seven refugees who were welcomed by an organization Diya founded, Every Campus A Refuge (ECAR) leveraged resources at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Diya outlines some interesting facts about camp life that I was not aware of:
- 99% of refugees never resettle. They live the rest of their lives, and their children live the rest of their lives in camps or camp-like conditions in countries right next door.
- Camp life is a cannon-sized hole in the wall and shared fears.
- Camp life is a war again, just like the one that brought them there.
- Camp life tries to be like real life, but it is not. It haunts and disfigures. It dismantles and distorts.
Less than 1% carry their disparate selves yet again strike out for lands unknown, hoping to find a home.
Not everyone is welcoming of the influx of refugees who have been exiled. It is horrible that those who have become refugees have been racialized. To flee your home country to save your life and that of your family because of your race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion is traumatic. Having no idea what to expect on the other side of their long, arduous journey is difficult, scary, and exhausting for these newcomers.
Some view refugees with the assumption that they are or should be happy to be in this country. But this assumption can blind us from seeing how resettlement is incredibly difficult, and people frame them as ungrateful if they do not exhibit our "normal" expectations. There is the fear of an unimaginable unknown as if you are looking into the darkness, eyes unseeing. Refugees cannot go back to their country of origin for fear of losing their lives and therefore require international protection.
The arrogance of assumptions does not recognize the challenges refugees face when they first arrive and the language barriers that make it even more difficult. Mistreatment, abuse, exploitation, and racism are elements that leave them feeling traumatized and helpless.
Human bodies on the move don't always take their souls with them. Sometimes they leave their souls behind. Their bodies, finding no other way to serve, split themselves from their souls. Their hope is fragile not knowing whether they will meet their souls again after waving goodbye. This expression is echoed throughout the stories that Diya speaks about. For a greater understanding of the real side of what being a refugee entails, I recommend this book to add to your reading challenge.
July 19, 2022
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for making this ARC available to me to read.
This author is a Palestinian refugee now teaching at a college in the US who set up a program to sponsor and begin support for refugees at her college, which has now expanded to other colleges. This is an excellent idea--housing, food, health support, English classes and teachers and students who might already speak the language--if I worked at a college I would definitely want to urge participation in this program. The author tells both of her own refugee experiences, in Jordan and other places, and also gives us parts of the stories of some of the refugees who have been helped at her college.
Pros of this book:
The writing is lovely, almost dreamlike at times
The segments about her own life are quite good and the ones about the refugees she helped are just very compelling
The only con: That dreamlike writing can make it hard to follow at times and I struggled a tiny bit keeping everyone separate and remembering who I was reading about. But this was fairly trivial for me; the stories were good enough that I just noticed this in a few places.
Wonderful addition to shelves if you have an interest in immigration or refugees.
This author is a Palestinian refugee now teaching at a college in the US who set up a program to sponsor and begin support for refugees at her college, which has now expanded to other colleges. This is an excellent idea--housing, food, health support, English classes and teachers and students who might already speak the language--if I worked at a college I would definitely want to urge participation in this program. The author tells both of her own refugee experiences, in Jordan and other places, and also gives us parts of the stories of some of the refugees who have been helped at her college.
Pros of this book:
The writing is lovely, almost dreamlike at times
The segments about her own life are quite good and the ones about the refugees she helped are just very compelling
The only con: That dreamlike writing can make it hard to follow at times and I struggled a tiny bit keeping everyone separate and remembering who I was reading about. But this was fairly trivial for me; the stories were good enough that I just noticed this in a few places.
Wonderful addition to shelves if you have an interest in immigration or refugees.
August 17, 2022
American Refuge, part memoir, part cultural reckoning, and above all a soaring, searing chorus of voices speaking to us from the depths of the trauma and the resilience of the refugee experience, is both more beautiful and more necessary than any other book I can imagine on its subject. Abdo, whether she is recounting her own family’s history of forced migration from Palestine or translating, with deepest respect and sympathy, the stories of those she has worked with in her own career as a writer and activist on behalf of the forcibly displaced—tales of the profundity of homes lost, of feet torn from beloved carpets and doorsteps, of unbearable yet somehow borne journeys—presents her subjects with a clarity, poetry and force that is impossible to ignore. Refugees arriving in America, she reminds us, are “separated from their souls,” survivors of war, persecution, terror and despair, stripped of all but their lives, “tightened for travel,” deserving not only of sympathy and shelter but of our acutest understanding (too often, she makes plain, we imagine refugees arriving on our shores as having found “happiness” or “peace” at last—when in reality the heart-pain of what they have been forced to flee is deep and lasting). Abdo makes achingly visible the vibrancy of what was lost, the cultures, family structures and traditions, schooling, professions, hopes and dreams left behind, in language that is rich and remarkable for its power and insistence yet never takes the spotlight from the lives and crossroads it illuminates. American Refuge is stunning, a complex, lucid, and deeply moving symphony of voices, a weave of histories and a web of urgent discussions about what more we can do to help souls like our own—“anyone,” Abdo reminds us pointedly, “can become a refugee”—find not peace, perhaps, but futurity, the next door. It is a song, a lesson, a call to action on behalf of those who have always been our neighbors, and it has permanently changed the way I see the world.
May 30, 2024
This is a stunning book. I recommend it to people who do not usually read about this subject and don't usually engage with non-fiction who want to try something new. It's well-crafted, emotionally moving, and fast-paced. I read it in one sitting and then read it again a few weeks later. Abdo weaves grief, inter-generational trauma, and the ties that bind, together into a nonlinear narration that can make your skin ache. She portrays the complex interplay between culture and people; their families, religion, communities, culture, and love. While each refugee's experiences are unique they are tangibly familiar. Eating with the people you love, visiting graves, the soap your caretaker used, saying goodbye, the weight of familial responsibility. Some chapters are more educational others feel like a poetic snapshot of people's lives. There is something to connect with here, no matter who you are.
February 4, 2023
Short read, very empathetic telling of immigrant experiences. But what is especially amazing is her use of praxis by creating Ecar (every campus a refuge). Programs like these give me hope for the future.
July 5, 2022
I found this book very interesting as the author has brought into light true stories of refugee experiences by interviewing them at American Guilford College who are volunteers and students hosting their stories of displacement, of waiting in limbo, of resettlement, and the author Diya's own refugee story. As an adult immigrant to the US and a child of Palestinian refugees who was born and raised in Jordan ("the alternate homeland"), the author highlights some of the challenges that are unusual the refugees faced: affording safe housing, accessing appropriate health care, and finding fulfilling and well-paying work. Barrier of language is another trauma they carry.
Refugees have so little times to settle in and find themselves in immediate poverty and debt - including the the airfare that needs to be paid back. To secure employment is the first and foremost necessity for refugees. Their first job would be non-commensurate with their skills, certifications, degrees, or interests, an added obstacle as many credentials and degrees from their home countries are not recognized in the US. To find employment and successfully integrate learning English and taking time to adjust emotionally, mentally, and culturally overtakes their needs. sometimes the payments could be too low even to afford rent, not even minimum wage either. The commute could be long and the work exhausting and painful.
The author of this book gives impressive and brilliant definitions and latest statistics of refugees in the world today in a detailed manner. Everybody wants to be US, with US, in US. Everything else is worse - a Eurocentric/Americentric ideology - a harmful belief. I would rate this book 4 star!
I just reviewed the book, American Refuge: True Stories of the Refugee Experience by Diya Abdo. Thanks to the author Diya Abdo and Publisher Steerforth Press, and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book for my honest review.
Refugees have so little times to settle in and find themselves in immediate poverty and debt - including the the airfare that needs to be paid back. To secure employment is the first and foremost necessity for refugees. Their first job would be non-commensurate with their skills, certifications, degrees, or interests, an added obstacle as many credentials and degrees from their home countries are not recognized in the US. To find employment and successfully integrate learning English and taking time to adjust emotionally, mentally, and culturally overtakes their needs. sometimes the payments could be too low even to afford rent, not even minimum wage either. The commute could be long and the work exhausting and painful.
The author of this book gives impressive and brilliant definitions and latest statistics of refugees in the world today in a detailed manner. Everybody wants to be US, with US, in US. Everything else is worse - a Eurocentric/Americentric ideology - a harmful belief. I would rate this book 4 star!
I just reviewed the book, American Refuge: True Stories of the Refugee Experience by Diya Abdo. Thanks to the author Diya Abdo and Publisher Steerforth Press, and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book for my honest review.
April 19, 2024
I could not recommend this book enough and I foresee this book as being one of my favorites this year in my reading challenge.
I went in not knowing much about the refugee crisis other than what has been told to me through others and from occasionally reading Voice of the Martyrs. I’ll admit that I had previously avoided learning more about this topic because of my feelings of helplessness-how do I help those suffering on the other side of the world? There is a degree of separation in remaining largely ignorant-and still largely ignorant to the lives of millions of displaced persons. And although it is wrong, it is easy. I hope to never be too afraid to understand again.
I did not expect to read about refugees in Greensboro, North Carolina. Though I know there are refugees in my state, I come from a tiny rural town with very few immigrants from anywhere. Reading about the perspectives of those who came over to America to receive asylum in a city roughly 2 1/2 hours from my tiny town was both harrowing and heartbreaking. This book challenged me to see what I might not have previously had the eyes to see before and given me a passion to learn more.
In the meantime, this is my new top recommendation.
I went in not knowing much about the refugee crisis other than what has been told to me through others and from occasionally reading Voice of the Martyrs. I’ll admit that I had previously avoided learning more about this topic because of my feelings of helplessness-how do I help those suffering on the other side of the world? There is a degree of separation in remaining largely ignorant-and still largely ignorant to the lives of millions of displaced persons. And although it is wrong, it is easy. I hope to never be too afraid to understand again.
I did not expect to read about refugees in Greensboro, North Carolina. Though I know there are refugees in my state, I come from a tiny rural town with very few immigrants from anywhere. Reading about the perspectives of those who came over to America to receive asylum in a city roughly 2 1/2 hours from my tiny town was both harrowing and heartbreaking. This book challenged me to see what I might not have previously had the eyes to see before and given me a passion to learn more.
In the meantime, this is my new top recommendation.
August 24, 2022
I had the privilege of reading “American Refuge” when I was looking for a good quality book to add to my class materials where I teach about refugee stories. Being refugee myself, I lived through my own challenges. I didn’t have any connections when I read many other books written about Refugees, but this book, sums it up for me. It gets to the center of the story. The way this book is written, it really helps us understand how to follow the story, simply and most importantly to LISTEN. Diya sheds the light on many issues that refugee share when they arrive, but also reminds us to do our part and not treat this crisis with statistics and numbers. Amazing work Dr. Diya. This book is fascinating helping us to understand the difference in terms and terminologies. You must read Ch.7 to have a better understanding of the difference between “Refugee, Migrant, Immigrant, Undocumented, Stateless, DACAmented, movement…etc”.
Highly recommend!
Highly recommend!
March 18, 2023
Opening with “Radical Hospitality,” a new and brave call to action, Diya Abdo, founder of Every Campus a Refuge (ECAR), inspires and challenges us to wake-up to the realities of our refugee and newcomer population. Abdo shares the lived experiences of refugees, the trauma endured, the hope that survives, and the myths that are perpetuated. Abdo writes, “Most refugees never imagined that they would one day be refugees” (p.55). These words stop you in your tracks as you get to know Afaf, Blaise, Cheps, Marwa, Ali, and Un Fihmi. Wrapped up in their stories, we shed our preconceived notions about the refugee experience and learn that fleeing is not at all what we thought and that our imagination has truly deceived us. Fortunately, there’s still hope and ways that we can offer community and hospitality. American Refuge: True Stories of the Refugee Experience unlocks the door towards a more just society, one campus, one person, at a time.
September 25, 2024
American Refuge should be required reading for everyone. I’m pleased our community has it as a community read this year with multiple copies available at our public library
Professor Abdo brings us the stories of seven refugees from around the world who came to Guilford College, Greensboro, NC under the Every Campus a Refuge program originated by Dr Abdo.
Dr Abdo allows the men and women who came to Greensboro to tell their own stories. All arrived after harrowing journeys. She educates us about the “resettlement “ process and the complexities beyond our imagining for all who come seeking peace and a place to thrive not just survive
This could not be more timely. I highly recommend this significant book.
I’m looking forward to hearing Dr Abdo speak in our community this week.
Professor Abdo brings us the stories of seven refugees from around the world who came to Guilford College, Greensboro, NC under the Every Campus a Refuge program originated by Dr Abdo.
Dr Abdo allows the men and women who came to Greensboro to tell their own stories. All arrived after harrowing journeys. She educates us about the “resettlement “ process and the complexities beyond our imagining for all who come seeking peace and a place to thrive not just survive
This could not be more timely. I highly recommend this significant book.
I’m looking forward to hearing Dr Abdo speak in our community this week.
July 24, 2022
What is a refugee and why do they feel the need to leave their country? Diya Abdo tells us several stories of refugees from different countries, different background, different history. She does this not in an emotional way but very objective, nearly academically. Incredible horrors are described as facts to make us understand that behind every refugee there's a story so hurtful that this person hd no other choice than to leave and seek life elsewhere. For me the most shocking part of the book was to see how long this journey takes for so many of them and that most of them never find a new place they can really call home.
Diya Abdo says they leave their souls in their home country. Can you imagine life without your soul?
Diya Abdo says they leave their souls in their home country. Can you imagine life without your soul?
December 5, 2023
This is an eye opening account of the current state we are in regarding refugees and people seeking safety in America. I didn’t know until the opening chapters that the author is in my own town, writing about Greensboro, NC and some of the horrible stories that occurred here. She hopes to show us inside the story of the people from various situations around the world. The troubles they flee, the hardship while they journey, the rigged system once they are here…all things that would break a normal spirit. It’s true that politics have made any humanitarian efforts more difficult since the Trump fiasco, but the author hopes we see that it isn’t a country policy or a foreign aid crisis- it’s a human BEING problem that we can all work to prevent. Thank you for writing this book!
April 26, 2024
I surprised myself by enjoying this non-fiction book more than I expected. It's the stories of six refugees told in snippets and alternating between the people. This book was very informational about the differences between the terms refugee, migrant, immigrant, undocumented, etc. To me, many of these terms were interchangeable but they really are not. Our political climate has a huge impact on how people hear about and view the people entering this country. Many times these terms are intentionally interchanged to add to the confusion.
It is a slower read but worth the effort, I would highly recommend this book. I think it should be a mandatory history read for high school students!
It is a slower read but worth the effort, I would highly recommend this book. I think it should be a mandatory history read for high school students!
January 20, 2023
American Refuge presents stories of refugees from different contexts in a deeply moving and intimate portrayal by Professor Diya Abdo, who interweaves her own family's experiences of the Nakba.
What I loved about this book:
- structure of themes and narratives
- equal page space given to all narrators
- respect accorded to all voices: no one is dumbed down, reduced to stereotypes, or flattened to fit a model narrative
- provides a nuanced portrayal of refugee camps from the perspective of former refugees and not volunteers
- covers the the steep toll of moving to the US and giving up degrees, professions, comforts, and culture
A must read for EVERYONE.
What I loved about this book:
- structure of themes and narratives
- equal page space given to all narrators
- respect accorded to all voices: no one is dumbed down, reduced to stereotypes, or flattened to fit a model narrative
- provides a nuanced portrayal of refugee camps from the perspective of former refugees and not volunteers
- covers the the steep toll of moving to the US and giving up degrees, professions, comforts, and culture
A must read for EVERYONE.
August 6, 2024
Beautifully written coverage of a challenging subject. The week I finished this, the stabbing in Southport, England occurred and the subsequent misinformation about the perpetrator being an immigrant, which led to senseless attacks on immigrants in the area. The difficulties and the history which Diya Abdo covers are ongoing, unfortunately. I highly recommend her author interview with NC Humanities on youtube. (North Carolina libraries chose her book for the statewide book club, NC Reads.) She is animated and a good speaker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opX5-...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opX5-...
December 3, 2024
Such an amazing and empowering book! I read this in one of my college classes this past semester and it really changed how I perceive refugees and immigrants. This is the type of the book where you can learn a lot, while also building empathy to better understand refugees and all the processes they have to face. Reading these individual stories makes you realize that refugees are more than just a political debate, they are REAL people like us who have gone through a lot, and are survivors who worked day and night to build a better future for themselves and their families. I encourage anyone to read this book because you will not be disappointed!!
October 5, 2022
Diya was a refugee herself and decided to do something to help other refugees. She started the Every Campus A Refuge program at Guilford College in North Carolina where she is a professor.
This book is very insightful to what life is like before and after relocation for refugees here in the US. The stories shared in the book are first-hand accounts of refugees benefiting from the Every Campus A Refuge program. It inspired me to find ways to help the refugees in my area.
Thank you to NetGalley and Steerforth Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!
This book is very insightful to what life is like before and after relocation for refugees here in the US. The stories shared in the book are first-hand accounts of refugees benefiting from the Every Campus A Refuge program. It inspired me to find ways to help the refugees in my area.
Thank you to NetGalley and Steerforth Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!
April 30, 2024
it feels important that stories of the oppressed and underprivileged are told. these refugee stories are the stories of humanity at its worst. it does seem like if we could get more refugees "successfully" resettled, we could have more champions for them, success stories that would continue to build on each other. Maybe?
i'm a lover of narrative, so i think i would have preferred that each person's story was told as a whole, not broken up by theme. otherwise, this book was well done and quick to read. I also love that one of the refugees' art is on the book cover. it's so good.
i'm a lover of narrative, so i think i would have preferred that each person's story was told as a whole, not broken up by theme. otherwise, this book was well done and quick to read. I also love that one of the refugees' art is on the book cover. it's so good.
April 23, 2024
I read this book as part of the NC Reads book club. I really wanted to rate this book higher but I just could not get into it. The stories were interesting but I had to keep starting and stopping because I just couldn't settle in. I am not sure if it was because it felt like the author was jumping around or just the layout of the book. I have made it about 3/4 of the way and can't convince myself to finish it. I might go back later and try again.
July 31, 2022
This book is a beautiful combination of context of refugee issues and personal narratives. Dr. Abdo carefully weaves together the stories with dignity, attention, and compassion.
This is the perfect book for anyone interested in learning more about refugee issues and the very real people impacted by displacement.
I read this book pre-publication as a colleague of Dr. Abdo.
This is the perfect book for anyone interested in learning more about refugee issues and the very real people impacted by displacement.
I read this book pre-publication as a colleague of Dr. Abdo.
February 24, 2024
What an interesting and timely book. The author does a really nice job of contrasting "refugees" with "immigrants"--the simplistic explanation is that no one wants to be a refugee. The author also does a quick, but insightful, analysis of the places where the refugee process fails--hopefully USCIS, the US Dept of State, and UNHCR are reading this book and trying to address them and quickly.
April 24, 2024
Heartbreaking, motivating, poetically written. A short, informative read that should open your eyes to the plight of PEOPLE just trying to survive against extreme obstacles, some of which they face even after reaching the place of resettlement. I knew the process was long and arduous, but I didn't realize that for some, it is decades!
April 29, 2024
The lessons I have learned from this. Gosh, so lucky to say that I have met Diya multiple times and continue to be enamored by her work. The way she has used her writing as a vessel for the stories of refugees is exquisite. This book is for everyone but especially anyone who is considering private sponsorship, this is the book for you!
December 30, 2022
This is not designed to be a left brained analytical overview of the world of refugees. Rather, it's a compendium of stories of refugees that the author has known personally. It's a powerful introduction to the refugee experience, as varied and challenging as that can be.
April 20, 2024
This was a selection for a local book club. While I found some of the sections very interesting it was not that way throughout the entire book. This was a non fiction from a NC author about being a refugee in the state of North Carolina..
August 4, 2024
A very good read that does an excellent job educating the reader on the world-wide refuge crisis. It goes further by outlining programs such as EVERY CAMPUS A REFUGE as a means of offering relief and a new beginning for some families and individuals.
October 21, 2022
Deeply important
Read
March 13, 2023Love the Guilford College connection
February 16, 2024
This was my Book Club read for February, it was educational. Sounds as though the refugee program needs a massive overhaul.
April 18, 2024
Read it
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews