Our stories are your stories

When you’re pregnant, you can’t be happy. How to keep my children alive? The only thing was to trust in God.

We jumped the boat for fun, for a short ride. But then we moved out into open sea. I was thirteen. I had no shoes.

You have to know how to get in the river, Know the water, know just when to swim.

I was a visionary, a dreamer, and in Pakistan, that’s like committing a crime.

He beat me. He tried to rape me. He said “You Jew!” You are all Russia’s problems.

Walking and hiding, crackers and water and cactus thorns. My feet are bleeding and I am alone with six men. I keep myself apart...and pray.

We are you.
Our struggles are yours.
I am from here.

© The Refuge, All Rights Reserved. Production Photo by Michael Stravato for The New York Times (“The Refuge,” at Houston Grand Opera). Mexico photo by Alejandro Linares Garcia - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0. Africa photo by TURKAIO. Vietnam photo by Davidlohr Bueso. Pakistan/India photo by srizki_flickr. Soviet-Era Jewish photo by Max Alpert, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Central America photo from Flickr. Site by ycArt design studio. Images from this site may not be reproduced without prior written permission. Featured trademarks, brands and images are the intellectual property of their respective owners.