“About a year and a half ago, someone knocked on my door late at night. When I opened it, my mother was standing there with tears in her eyes. She didn’t have to say anything – my father had died. He had a rare heart condition, so we knew, at some point, that he would just go. It was peaceful, apparently, and very quick. My mother found him in his favorite chair at home with a book in his lap and a coffee on the table. My world collapsed. Growing up all I wanted was for him to be proud of me. I was so afraid he’d die and think of me as a disappointment. But three days before he died, during our last phone call, although we didn’t know that yet, he said “kid, the world is yours for the taking, and I’m so proud of you, and my work here is done.” I had just graduated with a bachelor’s and I was making plans for grad school. When I was younger, because of his condition, he was always trying to impart wisdom just in case he wasn’t around when I needed it – so for example he gave me serious relationship advice when I was twelve and it made no sense to me. Six months after he died I went through a really difficult breakup, and his decade old advice suddenly came back to my mind. He did everything he could as a father, to prepare me for the world.
I came to Amsterdam a year ago to do a master’s degree. The first few months were really hard. I was afraid to make friends of get attached, I think, because I was afraid to lose more than I already had. But there’s something about Amsterdam that either forces you or encourages you to just figure things out, and slowly I reached out and made friends and connected to family and really settled in. And Amsterdam became home. Coming here when I did turned out to be the best thing I could do for myself. This city has healed me. Right now I’m on my way to meet my Mum. She’s visiting because tomorrow is my graduation. That my Dad isn’t here as well is – is really hard. But today would’ve been his birthday, so we’re going out to get cake and celebrate.“

“When I told my mom I wanted to quit my studies she wasn’t mad or disappointed. I explained her that I needed more freedom in order to grow and she understood. I created a plan, I wrote everything down and she promised to financially support me for a whole year. I promised her that I would be able to stand on my own feet after that. That year I was able to experiment and try out new things. I started writing, presenting and making short films. Soon I discovered that I love sharing stories and film became my favorite medium to do so. That year led me to become a freelance filmmaker. My office is here right around the corner and I come here to this little spot a few times a day. To me this is the most beautiful place in Amsterdam. Whenever I am editing and I need a little break I sit here to think. I try to remind myself on daily basics what I am thankful for. It is so easy to lose yourself in the every day chaos. I personally am most thankful for the freedom that I have. That I can come and sit here whenever I want to. In a way that freedom is a present given by my mother because she always believed that I was able to make the right decisions for myself.”

3/3 “Following that incident, Americans were adopting children from the orphanage. Almost everyone got chosen but no one adopted me. In total, I got rejected twelve times. My best friend, number 26, and I had the same name. So when her adoptive mother got a phone call from the orphanage asking which Mabinty she wanted to adopt, she said that she would adopt both of us. My adoptive mother had previously adopted 3 sons, which she lost to HIV/AIDS. One of her sons who passed away, left her a note which stated; ‘’Please adopt a child from West Africa.’’ That is why she decided to adopt us. I was named Michaela DePrince and my friend, who is now my sister, became Mia DePrince. The very first thing I did when I met my mother, was to show her the magazine cover of the ballerina. We didn’t speak the same language but she immediately understood what I was trying to say. She said, “I promise you that when we get to America, you will dance.” America was completely different from Sierra Leone and I have never seen so much food in my life! I didn’t understand the concept of paying for food. So whenever we would go to the supermarket, I would just eat the grapes from the fruit section. We were living in New Jersey and life was really good. I was taking ballet classes but I was still very nervous about my vitiligo. As my mother promised, I started dancing ballet and I would practise every day. I had one goal and that was the become a prima ballerina. My vitiligo wasn’t a problem but I was discouraged to dance ballet because I am black. When I was 8 years old, one of my ballet teachers told me that they weren’t putting much effort into the black ballerinas because she said they end up getting fat anyways. I knew it would be really hard to reach my goal to become a ballerina but I was not planning on giving up on my dream. At seventeen, I started performing at the dance theatre of Harlem and at 18, I got hired at the National Ballet Company here in Amsterdam. A few years ago I got to dance in Beyonce’s music video ‘’Freedom’’. If it wasn’t for my adoptive mom and sister, I am not sure I would have survived. I have been angry for a long time but I have decided to leave the past behind. Of course, it makes me who I am today but also I want to look forward to a bright future. I am not afraid of obstacles because I know that I am strong enough to survive anything.“

2/3 In the orphanage I had no one who cared for me except for child number 26. Her name was also Mabinty and she was left handed and would wet her bed at night. From the moment we met we were best friends. At night whenever I was having nightmares she would sing to me and tell me that we would survive and that everything would be alright. One day I was playing outside and I found a magazine at the gate of the orphanage and there was a beautiful woman on the cover. She was wearing a pink tutu and point shoes. I was mesmerized by her beauty and elegance but most of all she looked happy and that is what I wanted to be; happy. There and then, I decided that one day, I would be just like her. I ripped off the cover and I hid it in my underwear, where the aunties wouldn’t be able to find it. One day, a new teacher came to the orphanage and unlike the aunties she cared for me. She realized that because of my skin condition, I needed extra education. So, she would spend extra hours educating me. She became a mother figure whom I trusted. I went up to my teacher and I showed her the cover of the magazine. She explained to me that the woman on the cover was a ballerina. One day I was playing outside with my favourite teacher and while I was twirling around and dancing, suddenly we heard the rebels. They noticed that my teacher was pregnant and they stopped her and they started betting whether she was pregnant with a boy or a girl. They decided to find out and they cut her stomach open with a machete. It was a baby girl. They cut her arms and legs off right in front of me. Somehow I thought, I could save her and I ran up to her. One of the rebels, who was also very young, took his machete out and cut my stomach open. I still have the scar on my belly.

1/3 My name used to be Mabinty Bangura and I was born in Sierra Leone during the Civil War. I was born with a skin condition called vitiligo, which made people believe I was cursed, and they would call me the Devil’s child. My parents realized that my future in Sierra Leone would be really hard. So from an early age on, they tried to educate me as much as possible. I was 3 years old when my father was killed by the rebels, while working in the mines. My mother and I had to go live with my uncle who believed I was cursed. Therefore, he would barely give us food. All the food that we got, my mother gave to me and she ended up dying of starvation. When she passed away, my uncle took me to an orphanage and I never saw him again. The orphanage was run by uneducated women, who were called “the aunties”. There were 27 children in this orphanage and we were ranked from number 1 to number 27. Child number 1 was their favourite and would get first choice of foods and clothes. Child number 27 would barely eat and wore rugs and because of my vitiligo, I was child number 27.

“My dad was on of the best Ice hockey players of the country, so the sport has always been a big part of my upbringing. Growing up my dad was the coach of my team which wasn’t always easy, especially not when you are a teenagers and you start to rebel against your parents. When my parents divorced I lived with my mum so most of my quality time with my dad was spend on the field. He is extremely passionate about the sport so he always tried to share his knowledge with me. As a teenager I did not always understood his advice and often I felt criticized. When I got a little older I started to understand that he was trying to teach me some important life lessons. A few years ago my team was lacking a player so my dad stepped in. He was already 55 but he was still able to play with so much strength. It was an incredible experience for me to play with my dad. He taught me that if you want to succeed, you need to work hard and push your boundaries. That applies to ice hockey but also to life.”