Diana Habtom

I don’t feel foreign in Denmark. Some people claim that Danish people are closed, but the vast majority of people I meet are open and helpful.

I have one close girl friend here in Denmark. Her name is Asmeret and she is also from Eritrea. Otherwise I don’t have any friends my own age yet, but I have met people older than me who have become my Danish family. Kirsten, Bodil, Yosef, Vita, and Per. They help me with all kinds of stuff.

There are people that I miss, but I don’t feel alone, because I am surrounded by people from Eritrea and from Denmark who are there for me, and I constantly try to get to know more people. For instance I have signed up for a group on Facebook, “Girl fun with DFUNK – only for girls” with almost only Danish girls. It is important to me to become fluent in Danish, so that I can have an education. I dream of becoming a doctor, and I pray to God that this will happen. Sometimes, when everything seems impossible and I miss my family and friends in Eritrea, I ask myself why I came here, but then I pray to God and listen to church music. It soothes me. I feel happy when I go to church and when I sing in church. When I am there I forget all my problems. My religion is Orthodox Tewahedo Christian, and it has a therapeutic effect on me.

20 years / female / single / attends language school / Frederiksberg / from Eritrea / came to Denmark in 2015 / residence permit same year