We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World by Malala Yousafzai

★★★★

Malala Yousafzai is not a refugee, but she knows what it's like to be forced to leave everything behind in your home country, and to start a new life in a foreign country. She writes, "Truth be told, I don't want to keep telling my story...but...if by telling my story I can take the light people shine on me and reflect it onto others, well, that is what I will do." (p. 47)

The first part of this book is a memoir in which Malala describes being an internally displaced person (IDP) in Pakistan, and how her family relocated to the UK after she was shot by the Taliban at age 15. If you've read her autobiography (original or young readers edition), you'll already be familiar with these events, which she relates in broad strokes.

In the second part of this book, we meet nine girls/women who are refugees. (There is also a chapter written by an American woman whose family served as a volunteer host family for refugees.) Each story is prefaced with a brief introduction in which Malala tells us how she came to meet this person. Each refugee then narrates her own story, taking us from her life in her home country, through the events that led to having to flee, and in most cases, ending in how she came to re-settle in her new home.

The only reason I gave this book fewer than 5 stars is because I frequently found myself wanting to read more about each narrator. I can imagine how difficult it must have been for each contributor to tell the world their personal stories, and I appreciate their openness, bravery, and generosity in sharing their experiences. Yet, many of the stories left me with even more questions, and ended just as the person reached a point of relative stability; I wanted to know more about what happened next, and how they felt adjusting to new surroundings. Understandably, their lives are still unfolding, and we do get a glimpse of how each person is doing in a section at the back of the book titled "About the Contributors".

If you follow the news at all, you've probably heard about refugees from one place or another. This book provides a solid breadth of stories from major refugee crises in recent times. Sadly, there are many. These stories are important reminders that when we hear about "refugees" on the news, they aren't criminals, they aren't animals, they are human beings, individuals who are seeking safety first, and opportunity second.

The following is a list of contributors and a brief description of their paths. Not all stories are told to the same extent; the most in-depth stories came from Zaynab and Marie Claire, both of whose stories were supplemented by another person's perspective.

1. Zaynab: From Yemen. Fled to Egypt to escape the violence of the Yemeni Revolution. Arrived in Minnesota at age 18 on a valid U.S. visa.


2. Sabreen: Zaynab's sister. Fled to Egypt with Zaynab, but inexplicably did not get approved for a U.S. visa. At age 16, she paid to go to Italy, not understanding how dangerous the trip was. She spent time in a refugee camp in Holland, and ended up in Belgium.


3. Muzoon: From Syria. At age 13, fled to Jordan with her family, living in refugee camps, to escape the violence of the Syrian Civil War.


4. Najla: A member of the religious minority Yazidi population in Iraq, targeted for genocide by ISIS. Forced to flee as an internally displaced person.


5. María: At age 4, violence from the Colombian conflict (now on-going for more than 50 years) forced her family to flee their original home and live as internally displaced people in Colombia.


6. Analisa: From Guatemala. At age 15, she was living with an oppressive half-brother and a step-mother who was unable to care for her. Another half-brother, living in the U.S., offered to take her in. She made the journey through Mexico alone, but with other migrants and refugees. In Texas, she was held by immigration officials until her half-brother was able to secure her release.


7. Marie Claire: From the Congo. Spent the first four years of life living on the run from the violence of civil war. Fled to Zambia, where her family was attacked for being refugees. After an application process that spanned years, her family was approved to re-locate as refugees in Pennsylvania.


8. Ajida: A member of the minority Muslim Rohingya population in Myanmar, persecuted by the Burmese military, who have been accused of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Fled to Bangladesh, where she lives in a refugee camp with her husband and children.


9. Farah: Born in Uganda, but ethnically Indian. At age 2, Ugandan citizenship was revoked from Asian Ugandans, and her family was forced to leave the country. She grew up in Canada, and as an adult, decided to explore her Ugandan roots.