Within the term “refugee” is a wide range of diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences - including ‎among refugees from the same country.Sanga Zamaraikamal Pori, a senior at Boise State University and fellow with Neighbors United, is a former refugee from Afghanistan. Her story is unique to her own set of experiences and perspectives.Sanga and her family resettled in Boise, Idaho, when she was 4 years old, when the Afghan community was smaller. She remembers being the only student in her class wearing a hijab.Sanga is proud of her heritage, including being a Pashtun. She passionate about building a future career that supports other refugees in some way. In her free time, she loves getting creative with thrift store finds to make beautiful and traditional outfits.

Desange Kuenihira wrote her book, Undefeated Woman, to encourage other young people from refugee backgrounds - and through the process she found strength and healing for herself. Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Desange spent much of her childhood in a refugee camp in Uganda before resettling in Salt Lake City. She has since graduated from the University of Utah and founded UnDEfeated, a nonprofit uplifting students and women in Uganda, some of whom are navigating life after child marriage. UnDEfeated’s American sponsors can take trips to Uganda to personally meet the people they are sponsoring. Learn more about the work of UnDEfeated and hear directly from students at speakundefeated.org and on the UnDEfeated YouTube page.

The United States is in a moment of upheaval for refugee resettlement and immigration enforcement. John Slocum, executive director of Refugee Council USA, has spent many years working in migration policy and human rights. John shares a valuable and historical perspective on the immigration conversation of today.

The Pace for Peace 5K is returning to Boise this month - this time with a focus on Afghanistan.

“The situation in Afghanistan still is getting worse, not better,” said Yasmin Aguilar with Agency for New Americans. “We have clients here, they are suffering, they have family members there – extended or immediate – and our hands are tied.” Sayed Mirbacha, one of the local students organizing Pace for Peace, fled Afghanistan with his family four years ago after the U.S. military withdrawal and Taliban takeover.

“Leaving everything behind and moving to another country…was shocking,” he said. “The support and the community I found here was so heart-touching to me.”

Sign up here to support Pace for Peace: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pace-for-peace-5k-run-for-afghanistan-tickets-1487201251979

Run for Afghanistan on Sept. 27. Proceeds will go to the Qamar Foundation, whose mission is to tackle social injustice and poverty through education.

Lena Contor grew up in Ukraine and moved to Pocatello, Idaho, after getting married. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Lena was presented with an opportunity to go back on a humanitarian relief trip. Her first thought was, “Who am I to do anything? I’m not rich. I’m not powerful.” But she couldn’t push the thought out of her mind, and she took the leap.

She is now getting ready to go on her 10th trip back to Ukraine, and she has rallied the Pocatello community to fund solar panels that will power running water for devasted communities. Lena shows how overcoming self-doubt and thoughts of insignificance – and stepping up to do what we can in the moment – can have powerful ripple effects.

Fredrick Shema grew up in a refugee camp in Uganda before resettling in Boise with his ‎family in 2012 as a high school student. In college, he was able to go back to the camp ‎where he grew up for a research project, reconnecting with friends still living ‎there.

Through this experience and working with Boise youth from refugee backgrounds, ‎Fredrick set his sights on becoming an attorney – wanting to make a tangible difference in ‎people’s lives. After earning his law degree this spring, Fredrick sat down with Mosaics to ‎share about his life, what he’s learned, and how he found his ‘why.’‎