When I was 7 years old, we had to leave Bhutan because the government kicked out all the people of Nepalese origin. But in Nepal we were not considered citizens either so we had to live in a refugee camp. I lived there for 20 years. It was a very hard life. Nothing...
One day, when I was 8 years old, we heard gunshots down the street, which meant that soldiers were killing innocent civilians. Dad rushed in and said, ‘We need to leave right now’ and my parents ran around grabbing food and whatever they could lay their hands on. Of...
In Punjab, it was normal for girls to be married at 18, but I wasn’t ready for it. One day, I came home from college at noon, and by 5 o’clock the same day I was married. That was a huge shock for me. I don’t know why my parents gave me away. It was the tradition at...
My husband and I moved here from Nigeria for greener pastures. It was a massive decision for us, because our son was only 11 months old at that time. Also, although I am a lawyer, my qualifications weren’t immediately recognised here, so I had to repeat part of my...
I was already a bit of a rebel in East Germany when I was young, but I became a bigger rebel later after the wall came down, and I went to study in Berlin. That’s where I met my ex-husband, an Australian musician in a band. I didn’t speak much English in those...
When the war broke out, we stayed in Aleppo as we thought it was safe. But one day, suddenly bombing and terrorist attacks started to happen nearby where we lived. After that, we moved to Damascus, where we were in the worst situation ever as my father was called up...
