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”I have only been in an airplane once and that is when we arrived here from Somalia. In the airplane, I felt butterflies in my stomach the whole time. When we arrived at the airport, I finally saw my dad again. I had not seen him for a very long time. So I ran up to him and hugged him really tight. A while back, I saw a movie about a stewardess and she looked so pretty and smart that I decided I want to become a stewardess as well. I want to be able to travel, see Paris and have butterflies in my stomach.”
Manaal, 14 years old, from Somalia (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

1/2”My first day here in school I only knew how to say: ‘Bonjour’. I was really lucky because there was another Kurdish girl in my class so I had someone I could speak with. Now I speak really good French and I have made a lot of other friends but she remains my best friend. Last Friday we had to elect a class president. I wonder what I will have to do when I am president but a lot of kids voted for me. That makes me really proud.”
Roussel, 10 years old, from Syria (Lausanne, Switzerland)

2/2”When I am not in school my sisters and I, we play this game where all three of us are secret agents. Than we wake up our grandmother and we hide behind the curtains. She is really smart because she always finds us. When I am alone in my room my favorite thing to do is dancing. I also love dancing with my sisters and friends. When we are grumpy or sad we dance. It lifts our spirits.”
Roussel, 10 years old, from Syria (Lausanne, Switzerland)

”’What is you biggest dream?”
”That all people would have wings, just like angels. Then we would all be able to fly, hug the moon and touch the sky.”
Ghazel, 10 years old, from Syria (Lausanne, Switzerland)

”One of my teachers once told me that my German wasn’t good enough to continue my High School education. I came from Somalia to Austria in 2009 so German is not my first language. After she told me that I might have to quit my education and start to work, I studied even harder. I read many books in German. My language level went up and I was able to continue my education. I am now taking evening classes. Hopefully I will graduate this year so I will be able to finally go to university. I am not sure what I want to study but I know I want to have a job with meaning. During Ramadan I volunteered to go to orphanages and nursing homes to talk and play with the people there. That way I experienced what it means to help others. I would like for people to get along better, to listen to each other and to appreciate different opinions. As a child I was always dreaming of my birthday. Being a huge fan of Harry Potter and Batman I wanted to have theme parties where my friends would show up in costumes. In Somalia its uncommon to celebrate birthdays so I never really did. Soon I will turn 20 and even though I might be a bit too old for a themed birthday party, I don’t care. I would still love to have such a birthday party. I will throw one and invite all my friends. In life I learned to follow my heart. My sister always says, you are the ink and life is a book and you have to write your own story.”
Khalid, 20 years old, from Somalia (Austria, Vienna)

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”What I remember most about our journey is the rubber boat. It took 5 hours. The engine shut down a few times. We were so scared. It was midnight. We all were navigating on our phones. We went from Turkey to Greece. I mostly remember all the walking we did. I remember the mud, the cold and the constant rain. I did not eat much. When we finally arrived in Austria, I was so happy that I no longer had to walk. We ended up staying here in Vienna. On my first day in school here, I was very nervous. I didn’t know what to talk about to my classmates. I’d never met Austrian kids before and I was the first Syrian kid in the class. The kids in my class asked me a lot of questions about Syria and the war. I didn’t mind explaining to my classmates what my life was like in Syria. I told them about Aleppo, about the war and also about the Falafel because Falafel is Syria is really good. Some kids asked funny questions like: ”do you have cars in Syria?” Of course we have cars in Syria! Someone thought we only have camels. I already made a lot of friends here but sometimes I miss my friends in Syria. We still keep in touch through Facebook. I think the world without war is so much better. It is interesting for me to hear things about Syria. I saw so many stories about Syria going around on the internet and it is hard to tell if they are true. People must hear the truth and journalists have the power to do that. That is why I want to become a journalist so I can share the truth.”
Amr, 15 years old, from Syria (Austria, Vienna)