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United Kingdom. Simon Goldhill, professor of Greek literature at King’s College, Cambridge, his wife Shoshana, a lawyer, and their daughter, Sarah, 27, who is studying medicine, are hosting Faraj, 21, from Aleppo in their Cambridge home. Photo: Aubrey Wade / UNHCR

United Kingdom. Simon Goldhill, professor of Greek literature at King’s College, Cambridge, his wife Shoshana, a lawyer, and their daughter, Sarah, 27, who is studying medicine, are hosting Faraj, 21, from Aleppo in their Cambridge home. Photo: Aubrey Wade / UNHCR

Other Stories
  • Sweden. Architect Lars Asklund hosts Syrian refugee Farah Hilal, her husband, Waleed Lababidi and her brother Milad Hilal, in Malmö.
  • Austria. Sabine David, husband Dominique and daughter Nora, 1, host Afghan refugee Nooria Youldash and her 2-year-old daughter, Aysu, in Lavanttal.
  • Susanne (52) and Stefan (47) host Fady (35), a Christian refugee from Egypt, in Nikolassee, Germany. When their children moved out, Susanne and Stefan decided they wanted to help by giving one of the spare rooms to a refugee, but didn't know how to go about it. Then they received a newsletter from their local church, which was trying to find families in the area to host newly arrived refugees. Through the church they met Fady, a Christian refugee from Egypt who'd fled religious persecution. They got along well and he moved in with them in August 2015. While he waited for his papers to arrive, he couldn't work, so he used the time to learn German, which he now speaks very well. And it's already paying dividends. In March he starts work as a coach and supervisor to Arabic-speaking refugees at a school for professional development in Berlin. And he's also on the verge of moving into his own home, a small flat Susanne and Stefan own in Reinickendorf and that luckily, their previous tenant has just moved out of. When Susanne and Stefan's children were still small their landlord decided to sell the building that houses their apartment, so Stefan and Susanne found four likeminded families, also with young children, to club together and buy it. Today, the same four families still live there, providing a stable community in which Fady was quickly integrated. But at first, Stefan says, “people where a little surprised that we would give our keys to a stranger.” Although he didn't like the city at first, Fady says “I love Berlin now”. Now he has friends and knows the city, he appreciates how multicultural it is. Although this was initially difficult for him, due to his negative experiences in Egypt, he now counts many Muslims amongst his friends. Fady has also found a home in the congregation of the local Syrian Orthodox church and is an active member of the recently founded “Begegnungschor”, a choir in which locals and refugees learn and perform songs from
  • United Kingdom. Hilary Parle, 63, a retired GP and her husband, Jim, a professor of family medicine at Birmingham University, are hosting Yonasskindis*, a 72-year-old Eritrean. Photo: Aubrey Wade / UNHCR
  • Sweden. Single mother and librarian, Linnea Tell, hosts Syrian gay Muslim artist, Alqumit Alhamad, who is now thriving in Malmö.
  • Portrait: Anaïs, Vincent, and their son César, host Afghan refugees Zulfeqar and Battarine, in Saint-Priest, France.
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