Life in Caracas was stressful. Everybody had guns. I was robbed at gunpoint a few times. We used to carry dummy mobile phones to give to thieves in the traffic. My father and I were even ‘express-kidnapped’ by three guys once, who took us to the ATM to empty our...
I grew up in Kabul with nine brothers and sisters and forty cousins who all played together, fought together, and laughed together. When I was young, Afghanistan was a peaceful country, but when I was 10 years old, Russia invaded, and suddenly we saw soldiers in tanks...
When I arrived in Wagga Wagga, it was freezing, which was a shock for me coming from Karachi in Pakistan! At first, I was a bit homesick and depressed. But after a few months, I moved in with Gloria, an elderly lady, who really made an effort to introduce me to the...
My parents had a good life in Burma, in the upper echelons of society, with a huge house and many servants. But my older brother was born with a rare blood disorder, and my parents were told he wouldn’t live long due to the quality of medical care in Burma. Also in...
It took us 3 near death attempts to escape communist Vietnam. The first time, I was six years old. Of the three boats, one made it to resettlement, one completely sank, and ours started sinking, until luckily 5 hours later a fisherman’s boat came by and rescued us. My...