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Living as a Refugee in Cornwall

A law student, a chef, a young mother. Annissa Warsame reports on the Syrian women building new lives in small town Cornwall.

Living as a Refugee in Cornwall
Illustrations by Abbie Milne, The Falmouth Anchor
Published:
no one leaves home unless

home is the mouth of a shark.
'Home' by Warsan Shire

Rufayda* makes the biggest impression. She arrived in Cornwall three years ago. She studies English three days a week, volunteers part-time, all the while taking care of her three young children. Every day she drives herself to learn 20 new words. For Rufayda, education is twinned with any notion of success. At 20 she is just a year older than me.