December 12, 2016

Group A- Venture
Sarah Porterfield
A Way Back Home
Amira Nahum, an 18 year-old girl, lived with her two younger siblings; her 14
year-old brother, Farid, and her 8 year-old sister, Yara. Amira had bright green eyes that
shined with opportunity and hopefulness. Her dark, brown hair grew in thick volume and
cascaded over her back. She could speak English, but not fluently. She had studied
English when she attended her first private school when she was 10 years-old.
When the three siblings lived in Aleppo, Syria, they lived with their mother,
Fatima, and their father, Jamal. They grew up in a small neighborhood and enjoyed
good friends and family where they were open to one another with their stories and
feelings. The neighborhood itself was filled with small apartments and buildings. They
were all the same size and uniform but had different furnishings which set them apart
from each other. The streets gave off an ominous feeling as if something was going to
happen.
From living in Syria for almost 20 years, the family knew that the government and
the leader were unstable. Previously, they had received news on refugees moving to
America and those who resettled in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq. In May of
2015, Amiras parents applied to the RSC (Resettlement Support Center) so that they
could relocate to a safer country before things would become worse.
While the family waited to receive news from the RSC, they were forced to live in
the same dangerous conditions. One day, dark clouds swept across the blue sky with a
swift, effortless motion. Farid was playing games in his small town neighborhood with

his two friends. After an hour of socializing and playing, large tanks of gas were dropped
from the sky. Yellow gas creeped out of the broken, metal containers and began to
make Farid and his friends choke. The three of them ran to the nearby hospital as
quickly as they could. As they ran, they saw the yellow poison spread and start to
strangle the buildings and homes that they love. The volunteers working at the hospital
gave the three children oxygen masks to help them breathe easier.
As he was breathing through the mask, Farid could faintly see the nametag of his
doctor.
Tessa, Farid murmured with a broad face.
Everything will be alright, shhhhh Anxiety had slowly crept to the womans
face and made her red.
The hospital had many children and adults who were injured and affected with
disease. About an hour later, Farid was feeling slightly better. He still found it
challenging to breathe. Suddenly, he heard an explosion and realized that a bomb was
dropped on the hospital. The bombing damaged people physically and emotionally. The
people knew that they would never be safe again. The building fell into ruins of glass
and crumbled cement. Most of the patients were rushed outside and safe, but many
faced broken bones and head injuries. Farid could see that his doctor was squeezing an
old mans hand. The man had small tears that slowly slipped down from his face. Farid
knew that the man had lost someone whom he had loved.
Amira and her family soon received the news about Farid and were devastated.
Fatima, the mother, rushed to the hospital to find her son and to see the damage that
was made from the bomb. Confusion sparked across the country and many believed

that the Syrian government was responsible for the bomb. How could this be done by
our own government? They are basically hurting their own people, Amira repeated to
herself.
One week later, the family heard back from the RSC that they were to be
resettled in the U.S. Also, they learned that Farid would not be able to go to America
because he was still sick from a high concentration of poisonous gas and his lungs were
filled with fluid which increased his risk of death and made it impossible for him to travel.
Her parents despaired knowing that one of them would have to stay behind with
Farid. Jamal suggested that he stay to protect his son. Even though Amira and her
mother and sister were sad to leave, they understood that Aleppo was not safe and that
at least part of their family needed to start a new life in America.
On the airplane, Amira, Yara, and Fatima imagined America welcoming them with
open arms. When she stepped on the ground in the US, she felt a rush of relief. The
three of them were assigned to live in Lancaster, PA and were greeted by
representatives of Church World Services. With the kindness of their hearts, they
welcomed the family as one of their own.
In Lancaster, many of her new friends in their community helped them adjust to
their new life. They found them an apartment, obtained furnishings, and enrolled the
girls in school. Amira was excellent with languages and learned English quickly. She
helped teach her mother and sister. Amira attended high school as a senior and sought
to learn everything that she could.
I wish that I couldve taught Farid English, Amira stated sadly.

Maybe you still could, Fatima responded with uncertainty in her own ability to
speak English.
As the year drifted by, Amira faced prejudice. While watching TV one night, she
heard news that the son of a presidential candidate was saying hateful things about
Syrians: If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you
take a handful? Thats our Syrian refugee problem. Ever since this comment, many
people either ignored Amiras family or made fun of her. Others thought that she was a
terrorist and commented that refugees should not be allowed to come to the US. The
family desperately avoided the hatred that was spreading, but her friends stood by them
like a charm on a keychain that would never come loose.
Through these difficult times, Amira spent her free time drawing and taking art
lessons. She drew everything that she was feeling, thinking and dreaming about. She
often wondered if her brother and father were safe and happy, if she would ever see
them again, and if she would be able to stay in America. Amira desperately wanted to
help her family by getting a good education at a college and supporting them for all they
had done for her.
During her senior year, Amira applied to colleges and universities. In the spring,
she had received a free scholarship to New York University (NYU) for her fine drawing
skills. Even though she did not want to leave her mother and sister, she knew that she
must. She took a train to NYC where she started her freshman year in college. To her,
the city had buildings that were made of fine material and looked as if they stretched all
the way to space. Amira walked around the endless city and noticed many people of

different cultures and diversity. The streets were populated with diversity which felt like
life in a million colors. Amira finally started to feel like she fit in.
Amira had her first art courses and she took a course on writing and research.
Amira did her best in this class and one day, she was assigned to travel and write a
story about the conflicts and people in Syria.
It will be a research assignment that you will present to your peers, discussing
what you have learned and how it impacted you when you lived there. You will be
leaving in 3 months and staying in Syria for 6 weeks. Mr. Fisher, her professor,
announced with a stern but glorious look on his face.
Thank you and I cannot wait to travel and see my country again, Amira
squealed with excitement in her voice.
Amira counted the days until she could go back to her home country. When it
was time to leave, she boarded a plane and headed out. As the plane came close to the
ground, Amira prepared herself. She took a small, gentle step onto the land where she
had once lived and began to cry. Every tear conveyed a specific moment in her life and
slipped away off of her sweaty cheeks: the bombings, her brother, the trauma, leaving
home, leaving half her family, being welcomed to a new life, having good teachers and
support, and living the life that her parents always wanted for her.
Amira wrote her story and had extra free time to explore her beloved country.
She walked past the neighborhoods and hospitals and towns until she came to a
familiar street. There, in the golden rays of the sun, stood her brother and father. She
ran to them and embraced them with tears in her eyes and a smile that grew wide
across her face. This smile in particular would only glow in the most difficult times. The

fear and conflict she had experienced turned into a beautiful masterpiece of art. Amira
knew that through all of this, anyone who was once lost would always find a way back
home.