Iraq

Amal

"My family lives in western Iraq under the control of ISIS so whenever I see something in the news that has happened in Syria, I feel like my family is affected."

Writing, Photography by Garrett Gibbons
Amal
Amal
© 2016 Garrett Gibbons / TSOS

Writing & Photography by Garrett Gibbons

Amal is an employee at Microsoft, and has organized many gatherings to serve the refugee population in the Seattle area, like the Thanksgiving dinner organized by Kirsten Rogers. She’s grateful to Microsoft for allowing her a flexible timetable so that she can serve when needs arrive.

“My family lives in western Iraq under the control of ISIS so whenever I see something in the news that has happened in Syria, I feel like my family is affected. I can’t go home to help them but I can help people in similar situations who are my neighbors.”
Informed Consent

Our team members obtain informed consent from each individual before an interview takes place. Individuals dictate where their stories may be shared and what personal information they wish to keep private. In situations where the individual is at risk and/or wishes to remain anonymous, alias names are used and other identifying information is removed from interviews immediately after they are received by TSOS. We have also committed not to use refugee images or stories for fundraising purposes without explicit permission. Our top priority is to protect and honor the wishes of our interview subjects.

What would you do if you had to leave everything behind?

By the end of 2025, more than 117.8 million people worldwide had been forcibly displaced by war, persecution, or human rights abuses — and 45 million of them are children.

They arrive in refugee camps and countries seeking safety and carrying little: legal papers, if they're lucky. A backpack. A child's hand in theirs.

What they carry that we can't see is heavier: fractured families, homes they'll never return to, professions they loved, friends and relatives they may never see again.

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— Kristen Smith Dayley, Executive Director, Their Story is Our Story

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