When I was 7, my family left Czechoslovakia because things had became progressively worse in the 20 years since it was occupied by the Russians – there was no freedom of speech, and they had slowly obliterated the Czech way of life. Fleeing was very risky at that time...
Every summer holiday, we would leave Damascus to go to visit my grandparents in Aleppo. When we went to visit them in 2012, the war had started but it was still far away from us, so we didn’t worry about it. But after two weeks, just as we were about to book the...
My Dad was killed and my 7 year old sister was abducted when our village was attacked. But my mother, my second sister and I got away together. We walked for a long time to get out of South Sudan. For two years, we trekked, then rested for a few days, then walked...
When I was 10, my dad died, which was very upsetting for me as we had been very close. A few years later, my sister married an Anglo Australian, and about 5 years later she sponsored Mum and I to come to leave Malaysia for Australia, as all my other siblings were by...
My parents separated when I was on a student exchange in Geelong. That can be a very significant change for anyone, but when you’re 16 and living overseas, and something so profound happens to you, it really turns your world upside down. As a result, the relationship...
