Posted on

I am from one of the poorest countries in Africa

I am 21 years old and come from Niger. Niger is one of the poorest countries in Africa. It is very dry there and hot. The people live under very bad conditions. There is no good education, not enough food and not enough medicine. Most people in my home country work as farmers. I attended primary school in Niger and lived there with my family. My parents died very early, so I had to live with my uncle. Continue reading “I am from one of the poorest countries in Africa”

Dublin Core: Language: de Subject: refugees, asylum, a million stories, niger, germany
Posted on

I lived under great stress

I am 30 years old and come from Sudan. In Sudan I attended school and lived with my family. Originally I come from Eritrea, but my family left the country when I was very young. Sudan is safer for us than our homeland. Nevertheless, it was not easy for us. We were constantly asked about our origins, and we constantly had problems finding a good job. I left Sudan for political reasons. Continue reading “I lived under great stress”

Dublin Core: Language: de Subject: refugees, asylum, a million stories, sudan, eritrea, germany
Posted on

I dream of working as an Arabic teacher in Germany

I am 38 years old and come from Beirut in Lebanon. In my home country I studied High Arabic, later I worked as an Arabic teacher. I lived with my family.
Beirut is a very beautiful and above all very open city. Life in Lebanon is very expensive, but the wages are low. It is not easy to survive there. Continue reading “I dream of working as an Arabic teacher in Germany”

Dublin Core: Language: de Subject: refugees, asylum, a million stories, germany, lebanon
Posted on

The forced flight from Damascus

My name is Mouayyan Habbab, I am 29 years old and come from Syria, Damascus, from a place called Midan. I was born there, in a small house with three rooms. We lived there. I, my four siblings, my grandparents, my uncle, my aunt and my parents, all of us in this little house. Until the seventh grade, I shared a room with my siblings. My family comes from the middle class, from the ninth grade I worked next to my school to support my family. I passed my Abitur in 2007, after which I studied civil engineering at an institute. After three years I received my certificate. At this point a very happy life began for me, because now I had something in my hand. Continue reading “The forced flight from Damascus”

Dublin Core: Language: de Subject: refugees, asylum, a million stories, syria, germany
Posted on

The crying stones

My name is Mohammad Al Katli, I am 26 years old and come from Syria, from a place called Zabadani. Zabadani is a tourist spot, one of the most important of its kind in Syria. In summer it is visited by many tourists from Dubai and the Emirates. There is a lot of nature there and fruits, Zabadani is known for his apples. I lived there with my family, we are a religious family from the middle working class. We earned our living by renting out villas, my father also worked as a hairdresser. Continue reading “The crying stones”

Dublin Core: Language: de Subject: refugees, asylum, a million stories, syria, germany
Posted on

The war and the suffering

With the first line, I began.
I’ writing, over us falling bullets like raindrops.

Attacked by wrath, as by the waves of the sea.

The sky used to be clear, as clear as a river, but it was covered with smoke.

Everything has changed, everything has changed quickly.

As fast as thunder, as fast as lightning, as fast as magic.

I ask them, what happened, what happened? Everyone says we don’t know it, we can’t realize it.

Planes, angry and haughty, throw their grenades at us.

They did not kill me, I am not dead yet, but they burned it, they burned my whole life.

They burned them, the leaves of my tree.

Dublin Core: Language: de Subject: refugees, asylum, a million stories, germany
Posted on

I was afraid to go out on the street alone

I’m 26 years old. My life in my country was a normal life, I lived with my family, I was pleased. I worked in my country as a teacher of the Persian language, I taught adults and young people. I come from the capital, from Kabul. I loved my life there but I felt insecure every time I went out. I always wanted to go home quickly, I always felt restless. Continue reading “I was afraid to go out on the street alone”

Dublin Core: Language: de Subject: refugees, asylum, a million stories, afghanistan, germany
Posted on

At that moment, I realized that everything had changed

It was the 18th of April 2011, I just arrived from shopping at the dorm. When I arrived the atmosphere was very tense. I heard loud voices, people talking about a demo, about the country and about supporting the president. I had heard a lot before about the Arab Spring and the demonstrations in several Arab countries against the dictatorship of the presidents. I also saw in the news that there were demonstrations in several cities in Syria. I never understood why, it never interested me much what came in the media. Everything I knew, I knew from my friends. I tried to avoid the demos. Continue reading “At that moment, I realized that everything had changed”

Dublin Core: Language: de Subject: refugees, asylum, a million stories, syria, germany