During my childhood I was very brilliant at school, I was very well supervised by my parents and I dreamed of becoming a lawyer. However, one evening in February 2012 at 4 p.m., while I was in class, gunshots erupted everywhere. I was terrified because I was only 13 years old. Since my life turned upside down, I had to leave my country to go to the Mauritanian border with my mother, brothers and sister to take refuge. My father stayed to look after the house, the journey was endless and terrifying. Years later we settled in a refugee camp. I was 14 to 15 years old and also the eldest in my family. My mother did her best to feed the family but it was very difficult because we were used to a very down-to-earth and easy life and now everything changed.

Two years later, I was no longer in school and was doing any work I could to bring a little money for our family. I had seen the sadness and despair in the eyes of my mother who had said that I was her only hope and I could not go to school anymore. While my friends cried for clothes or entertaining things, I often cried at night for my mother and my family’s problems. Months later my father learned that I had dropped out of school. He immediately dropped everything to come to the refugee camp so that I could continue my studies. When I returned to school, it was difficult for me to integrate. I found I was behind many of the other students academically. I had missed part of my normal development because I had to be mature at the age of 13. Eventually, I had to return to my country to do my Baccalaureate and then my License in Sociology in difficult and shocking circumstances.

After graduating university, I continued to follow my love of entrepreneurship, leading me to attend the Global Refugee Forum, where I attended panels on entrepreneurship and themes related to agriculture, livestock and diversification. This experience inspired me to enter the agribusiness sector, and I am proud to say that it was a success. At the same time, I founded an association which aims to help young refugees become economically independent through entrepreneurship, with a particular emphasis on agribusiness.

Currently, I am training young people in my entrepreneurship program. This training covers the manufacture of ecological paving stones from plastic waste, the production of ecological charcoal, the creation of school supplies, and much more. We finance this training thanks to funds from our association as well as the generous contribution of a donors.

My main goal is to economically empower refugees to improve their living conditions and prepare them for their return to their country of origin. I firmly believe that professional activity is essential for successful reintegration into society.

In a recent session during my Refugees as Re-Builders Course™, I was inspired to share a poem I had written with the group. I would say that I have always loved writing. When I was a child I wrote plays for my elder brother who was in high school for his homework. I always write poems about love, friendship, and life in general. The theme of peace is linked to my history, my country and my journey. I wrote this poem to describe my opinion on the essence of social cohesion, peace, and living together, and to speak about the horrors of war. I wrote this poem on the occasion of World Refugee Day, during a work session during training dedicated to teachers.