Nine Months Pregnant, I Boarded a Plane
My husband is raising our three daughters and our son in a camp in Greece without me.
Photography by Lindsay Silsby
My husband is raising our three daughters and our son in a camp in Greece without me. He is a good man. He is an engineer, a schoolteacher, and an artist. We love each other, and we love our children. That is why I had to leave, to give our family the hope of a better life. After two years of fighting to keep our family together and safe, after two years of dirty camps and dangerous border crossings, after two years of running against closed doors, we decided it was time to separate.
Nine months pregnant, I boarded a plane and within minutes flew over those impassible borders into Germany. I gave birth to our fifth child alone. Every day I pray this daughter will never know the fear our other children have experienced. I yearn for the day my husband will hold this daughter in his arms and our family will be together again.
No more running, no more danger, no more barriers—together and safe—that is our hope for ourselves and our children. This is why I had to leave.
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