Rama Youssef was 12 years old when she left Syria, escaping violence caused by the beginning of the Syrian Civil War. But life didn’t get easier for Rama when  she arrived in the United States. Conflict followed her from a young age and she had to learn how to overcome fear and trauma to create a new life.

A content warning: this episode contains descriptions of war and violence that may be sensitive to some listeners.

Many Roads to Here is a production of The Immigrant Story. This episode was produced by Emily Denny. Audio editing was done by Richard March, assisted by Gregg Palmer. Our executive producer is Sankar Raman.

For more episodes, https://theimmigrantstory.org/category/episode/ or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Many Roads to Here are expanding. We’re looking for radio producers, especially those from immigrant communities and communities of color, to join our team. We’re all-volunteer for now, but we’ve got dreams. Please email [email protected] for more information. For more stories, visit theimmigrantstory.org/manyroads, listen live at prp.fm, or stream us wherever you get your podcasts.

Many thanks to St. Andrew Lutheran Church, Beaverton, Oregon for providing a space to record this interview.

This episode is made possible by a generous contribution by Oregon Cultural Trust.