Layla's Journey: From Trauma to Triumph
My story of hopefulness is Layla, who was married and gave birth to her firstborn son 10 days after her husband was killed by ISIS.
She fled with her son, walking from Aleppo to Turkey and then all the way to the Mediterranean. From there, she went on an exceptionally dangerous journey across the sea and ended up in Lesbos, Greece.
She lived in the worst refugee camp with her son and, after three years, was transferred to a mainland camp. After two years of living there, she learned to weave, carrying on the creative tradition of her grandparents and homeland.
Weaving each day enabled her to come out of her trauma and to see that there was a life worth living. She's a fully trained weaver now living in Germany with her son, earning a full-time salary.
There's barely anything more hopeful than that. If we treat people with dignity and respect, they can flourish and rewrite their story, and in that, we all flourish and benefit from each other's experiences.
