Sabah Hamadoun

I don’t feel foreign here at all anymore. When I go for a walk in town, it is my friends I see, my street I walk on, and my home I return to. It makes me feel proud. I think that it is due to no longer feeling foreign that I react when someone tries to provoke or alienate me. As when I spoke Arabic with a colleague, another colleague was really annoyed, so I spoke to my boss about it, and she solved the problem for me. And when another colleague looked at me in a strange way, I confronted him, and we now have an excellent relationship.

I have always been close to my neighbours. Their children will often come over and say hello to me. I am not afraid of reaching my hand out first, and I keep on until they grab it. It is important to me to have people around me, and I really enjoy it. So I have chosen to involve myself in as many voluntary associations as possible.

Many refugees put their lives on hold when they come to Denmark. Their hope to eventually return results in them never really being able to build a full life here. I feel that I have reached a point in my life where it should be about me. One of my daughters was diagnosed with cancer when she was a teenager. We struggled with the disease for several years, and it was really difficult. We were incredibly scared. When I came to Denmark I applied for family reunification, but she was rejected because she was above the 18.year old limit. She lived on her own in Turkey for one year, and this was unbearable. When your child has been diagnosed with cancer, you get an overwhelming need to be close by. Today we are back together again, and she has fully recovered. So we have the chance to enjoy life at last.

53 years / female / in a relationship / children / Hvidovre / cook / from Syria / came to Denmark in 2014 / residence permit same year