REFUGEE STORIES
When Canada was welcoming
“We had no relatives in Canada so the federal government sponsored us — and loaned my parents money to buy flight tickets. My dad got a job delivering pizza, but on his first day he held the box under his arm like a book.”
Hamida Ghafour on arriving from Afghanistan in 1985
The refugee and the Pope
“We asked Him to accompany us every moment on the roads, because the road is very dangerous, especially going through Mexico. Of course it was Him who made it possible to get here.”
Juan Jose Vasquez, who prayed after the murders of his parents that God would guide him from Honduras to the United States, where the 18-year-old will meet the Pope this month
Escape from Romania
“The train left Bucharest, and hours later we crossed into Hungary. My grandmother opened her prayer book to the picture of the Virgin Mary. The page was stained the colour of her lipstick from all the times she had kissed the image.”
Rukmini Callimachi on fleeing Nicolae Ceausescu’s Romania in 1979, with her father staying behind to allay suspicion
The reverse migrant
“I struggled so they can have a better life. Here, in Senegal.”
Ndiasse Dieng, who ran a market stall in Italy for years but returned to his homeland and hopes his children will not follow in his footsteps