My Story

My name is Ayla, and I'm Yazidi. My family fled from Syria back in 2014, before I was even born, when the Islamic State came for people like us. We're still refugees, but now we live in northern Iraq.

I live with my mom, my dad, and my sister. I love going to kindergarten, and art is my favorite thing to do there. Blue is my favorite color, monkeys are my favorite animal, and I love playing soccer with my friends. Someday I want to be a singer, so I can bring joy to people through music. At home, I help my mom by putting away my toys and keeping my room tidy.

Iraq is a special place. We love our families, our traditions, good food, and celebrating together. But there are hard things too, an unstable government, not enough jobs, and sometimes not enough food or clean water. Most people here are Muslim, and it isn't always safe to be a minority like my family.

Being a refugee is hard, but I like hearing about how God loves me and will always take care of me.