Journalist and filmmaker Abdirahman Ahmed Aden is a Somali refugee who left the camp in Kenya where he had lived most of his life to go back home to Somalia. In his essay, he shares what he experienced after returning made him reconsider his decision.

Due to a lack of internet access, the author is not able to read the essay himself. Instead, you’ll hear the voice of The New Humanitarian’s senior Africa editor, Obi Anyadike. 

The New Humanitarian aims to amplify the voices of refugees, asylum seekers, and people affected by conflict and disaster – placing them at the centre of the conversations about the policies and events that shape their lives.

To read more first-person stories, go to TheNewHumanitarian.org