“I saw the army burn my neighbor’s house. They set it on fire and took photographs while it burned.”

“Every month we had to go to Baghdad to get my son’s eyes treated.”

“Before leaving for Europe, I went back to Syria to see my family once more.”

“I inherited this orphanage from my father. I was in my twenties at the time. I had other dreams for my life, but the responsibility fell on me.”

“There was a huge puzzle after the genocide. How do you pursue justice when the crime is so great?”

“My father was well respected in the community. He was a university lecturer and a choir member.”

“I was only ten years old at the time so I don’t remember much.”

“The genocide was an opportunity to get rich. Murdering people was the quickest way to accumulate wealth.”

“My father was a talented engineer. He could fix any type of truck, and he used his income to help the poor.”

“When we heard the president had been killed, I ran into the street with my friends.”

“My husband and I were shopkeepers at the time of the genocide.”

“When I was twelve years old, they undressed a Tutsi girl in front of my entire school.”

“First came the meetings. They were openly advertised on community microphones.”

“When I was a baby I came very close to dying.”

“We saw on the television that other countries in the region were having political problems, but they always seemed to fix themselves.”

“Sometimes I sit by myself and I blame myself for leaving Syria.”

“Fevers are very dangerous for him because of his condition. One night he got a fever and there was nothing I could do.”

“My parents were supportive of my education, but they didn’t direct me.”

“I was the only doctor in the area, so when ISIS captured our town, I knew that they would ask me to work for them.”

“I had a very brilliant teacher in elementary school. She was my role model.”