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Adapting to Have a Better Future
by Saphir Wenzi
As an unaccompanied refugee minor, I’ve faced many challenges in pursuing my education, but the support of my foster families, agency, and friends has helped me along the way. For me, being a successful woman in the world means having a family of my own and working as a social worker or mental health counselor.
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Reunion Is Only the Beginning
by Anonymous
The cold and quiet Bangladesh airport filled with my loud cries as I was taken away from my loving mom’s arms and placed into those of a tense and muscular man. I was 4 years old, and his arms felt unfamiliar even though he was my dad.
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Losing My Brother
by Anonymous
Names have been changed. My brother Thomas is only three years older than me. We didn’t feel close to our mom, our stepfather, or our dads. So growing up, it felt like it was just the two of us. We had so much fun playing video games, basketball, and other games we created.
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Family Separation Can Ruin the Mother-Child Bond
by Valentina Ferreira
When I was around 6, my mom left our home in Barranquilla, Colombia, to pursue better opportunities in the United States. She left me and my older brother with my dad’s parents. I felt loved and well taken care of there.
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Losing the Most Important Connection
by Valentina Ferreira
I recently wrote a YCteen story about how difficult it was for me to reconnect with my mother after being separated from her for so long. We’re originally from Colombia and she came to the United States before me, when I was only 5.
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Waiting for the World to Come Back
by S.T.
I came to the U.S. from Guinea in West Africa when I was 17, just last year, to escape abuse by the uncle I lived with. I journeyed by plane to Ecuador, then on buses through Central America and Mexico. I was taken from an ICE detention center near the border to a shelter in Chicago and then to a foster care home in New York City.