Throughout the course of the 2016 Spring semester I wrote in-depth reports on the lives of refugees and other people displaced from their homelands but living in Southwest Missouri. This series stretched my journalistic abilities, as I searched for individuals in the Springfield community that have come from areas of extreme conflict and violence. The interviews required relationship-building, as sources relayed stories of violence their families endured before coming to America. All stories were published in The Standard Newspaper at Missouri State University.
Pictures below, if clicked, will direct you to the original Stories of War articles on The Standard’s website.
The process
I called the International Programs office at Missouri State asking if those in the office knew of any international students with a good story.
The woman on the other end of the line was a little surprised I’d be calling about this — it’s not like they could release a lot of personal information about students because of FERPA laws. I told her if she thought of anyone to give them my information. I waited it out. Sure enough, two students contacted me within that week saying they were from Iraq.
After meeting with several students, I broadened the scope of my story. At this time, war was not happening all in one place, though Syria was across national news outlets. Rather, restless tensions affected millions of lives worldwide. From dictators to violent extremism to radical clerical groups in the desert — my research and interviews opened up a world of war I hadn’t seen before. For this, I am so grateful.
One story was removed from the series in the spring of 2019 to protect the individual and family.
Mohammed Jubary — Sana’a, Yemen
Mohammed intimidated me. We met in the back of the library and I could tell he saw me as someone who had never been to his part of the world and didn’t understand his people. It took time, but soon enough he opened up and told me about seeing fellow Yemeni killed next to him and of the smoke and fear.
Read how he has overcome, here.
Hana Smail — Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan
Something amazing about Hana’s story is that where he’s from, Erbil, was — at the time of publication — a safe haven from terrorist groups. ISIS surrounds the city, but do not break through it, he relayed. Because of this Hana’s family is OK, for now. To this day, the Kurdish do not have their own country.
I did a lot of research into Saddam Hussein’s reign of terror, including the chemical bombing of Halabja, Iraq, that shook and even killed many from the region. I encourage you do to your own research on this event.
Read about the plight of the Kurds, here.
Pastor Samuel Asani and Malenga Mseke — Kigoma, Tanzania
My cousin attended a multicultural church in Springfield, Missouri, called Life 360 Intercultural. When I mentioned I was looking for those who had come from overseas, she immediately filled me in on a Congolese family that had only been in the states for a month at the time. I called the Life 360 pastor, Pastor Damon Duran.
I met Pastor Asani and his family the following Saturday night at the church, and by the next week I was in their home. Asani told me of the horrors that happened to his family who were almost all murdered by Mai Mai militants in 1996. He spent 20 years in a Tanzanian refugee camp after this night and rebuilt his family.
Read his powerful story of perseverance, here.
Ahmed Al Tuhafi — Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Ahmed’s story was different in that he is not originally from the UAE, but his family is from Iraq. He grew up in the UAE because his family moved there to gain peace. However now that he is past the age of 18, the UAE has refused to allow him to go back because they will not grant him or his father citizenship. At the time of publication, Ahmed’s family members were in Missouri, working with a lawyer to make the Midwest their home.
Read the article to find out more about Ahmed’s journey.
Abdulla Abdilazizha and Istahil Yusufnuh — Somalia
I learned about the organization “Springfield Welcome Home” through their Facebook page. I looked through the list of “admins” on the closed group page and picked one — it was Katie Webb. Katie messaged me back and said she would love to connect me to a family, and I heard about Abdulla’s past. This was more a challenge than the others, because this family does not speak English. They are friendly and inviting, but Bushra, a MSU student who speaks Arabic, came to interpret for us.
Abdulla not only escaped war once, but twice. After fleeing Somalia, his family left Yemen as well. Read his story here
— Sarah