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Rhenald  ·  Libya

Belonging: My Dream is to Help People Make Life Better

Everyone has his own road and his own destiny.

Writing by Twila Bird
Photography by Kristi Burton
Rhenald, Nigeria

After I finished school, I started traveling to try to find better jobs. I worked in Nigeria, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast, then someone asked me to come to Libya to work. That’s when I discovered that Libya is a dead zone.

When we got there, military gangs searched us for everything we had. They took it all. They don’t work; they just want to get money or other things. If you are a girl along the roadside, they will want you to sleep with them or [give them something], or you won’t be able to pass.

Fifteen-year-old boys had guns, and they drove good cars. If you touched them, or looked at them, or said something they didn’t like, they would shoot you. The humans there are like animals.

It was interesting for me seeing this strange life. It was like I was in a movie. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t playful. I worried about how my life would end.

One time the street boys broke into our house, took what they wanted, and tried to take our money. (We had to hide our money in our shoes or inside the waistbands of our jeans.) I was asleep and woke up to find that the boy next to me was shot dead. I decided then I needed to go somewhere else.

Now I am in Rome. My life hasn’t gone as I wished, but it is meant to be. It’s God’s plan. I’m twenty-five. Five years from now, if I’m blessed, I’ll have all my documents in order, get married, and have a good job.

Everyone has his own road and his own destiny. So I choose my own road to follow, and I’m grateful for the destiny God has for me. My dream is to help people make life better. I don’t want to see others pass through what I’ve passed through or see what I have seen. I believe it’s not what you acquire in your own life but what you invest in the lives of others that is most important.

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

By the end of 2024, more than 123.2 million people worldwide had been forcibly displaced from their homes due to war, persecution, or human rights abuses.

An increase of 7.2 million over 2023, that’s more than 19,619 people every day — roughly one person every 4.4 seconds.

They arrive in refugee camps and other countries, like the US, seeking the one thing they’ve lost: safety.

Fleeing political imprisonment, ethnic violence, religious persecution, gang threats, or war crimes, they come with what little they managed to carry:

Legal papers – if they’re lucky.

A single backpack.

Sometimes a child’s hand in theirs.

They also carry the weight of what they left behind: fractured families, homes they’ll never return to, professions they loved, friends and relatives they may never see again.

They carry loss most of us can’t imagine – but also the truth of what they’ve endured.

At TSOS, we believe stories are a form of justice. When someone shares their experience of forced displacement, they reclaim their voice. And when we amplify that voice – through film, photography, writing, and advocacy – the world listens. Hearts soften. Communities open. Policy begins to shift.

That shift matters. Because when neighbors understand instead of fear…

when lawmakers see people, not politics…

when a teacher knows what her student has survived…

Rebuilding life from the ashes becomes possible.

We’re fighting an uphill battle. In today’s political climate, refugee stories are often twisted or ignored. They’re reduced to statistics, portrayed as national threats, or used to score political points.

The truth – the human, nuanced truth – gets lost, and when it does, we lose compassion.

We are here to share their truth anyway.

At TSOS, we don’t answer to headlines or algorithms. We are guided by a simple conviction: every person deserves to be seen, heard, and welcomed.

Our work is powered by the people we meet — refugees and asylum seekers rebuilding after loss, allies offering sanctuary, and communities daring to extend belonging.

Your support helps us share their stories — and ensure they’re heard where they matter most.

“What ultimately persuaded the judge wasn’t a legal argument. It was her story.”

— Kristen Smith Dayley, Executive Director, TSOS

Will you help us keep telling the truth?

No donation is too small — and it only takes a minute of your time.

Why give monthly?

We value every gift, but recurring contributions allow us to plan ahead and invest more deeply in:

  • New refugee storytelling and advocacy projects
  • Resources to train and equip forcibly displaced people to share their own stories
  • Public education that challenges fear with empathy
  • Local efforts that help communities welcome and integrate newcomers

As our thank-you, monthly supporters receive fewer fundraising messages — and more stories of the impact they’re making possible.

You don’t have to be displaced to stand with those who are.

Can you give today — and help carry these stories forward?

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