The war broke out in Aleppo just after I had finished high school. I got married and we escaped to Lebanon, but we returned to Syria when I was pregnant with my second daughter. When we returned to Syria, I was shocked by the overwhelming...
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While my family was sleeping, six police officers entered my house and murdered my father. My father had been involved with the opposition party in Ethiopia, and he was targeted by corrupt officials. On the night of his murder, I ran for my life. I...
As I reflect upon my summer at New Hope to try and isolate some of my favourite memories, I keep coming back to the hours spent giggling with kids at the picnic tables in the backyard when we should have been studying English. I started...
My father was a wealthy and influential politician; he was assassinated in 2008. One man was arrested for his murder, but my brother started gathering evidence that implicated many other powerful politicians. On the day of the funeral, members of their paramilitary group came to...
When I was a 16 year old girl, I was conscripted into the military. In Eritrea, military service is indefinite for both men and women - you could serve for years and years, with no hope of going home. One day, my superior found my Bible...
[audio mp3="https://newhopecs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/New-Hope-in-Motion.mp3"][/audio] Arrivals They come by plane, by foot, and by car; my friends, from lands typically warmer than ours, and have experienced fears, deprivations inhuman, and horrors, often unspoken. Just to arrive at this place is the culmination of a profound journey, and my interaction is...
“The education was bad, there was war, and no one could live comfortably.” Farid* cannot remember a time in his childhood where life wasn’t difficult. Living in a small village which is now the political border between Sudan and South Sudan, conflict and violence were the...
When people asked me what I did as an intern at New Hope, my response was rarely the same as the time before - because every week was filled with surprises and new tasks. Here are a few of my best moments this summer: Summer Programming...
New Hope Resident Stories, News / 21.05.2019
Abud’s Story, Refugee from Syria
It’s been a gruelling 8 years since the start of the Syrian conflict, which has left over 500,000 people dead or missing, and 6.2 million internally displaced. The war in the Syrian city of Aleppo has had a devastating impact on many ordinary lives in...
News / 26.03.2019
A Refugee’s Journey to Canada
Imagine having your life uprooted and needing to abandon your home because your livelihood depended on it. You’re trying to escape to a better life, though you don’t know when and where this long and arduous journey will take you. This is the reality that...