In 1991, Muyambo Marcel Chishimba was forced to flee his home in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Today, he is rebuilding his life—and his art career—in New Jersey. 

The White House has suspended the refugee resettlement program, which will impact thousands of innocent people—mostly women and children—fleeing war and persecution and awaiting resettlement in the United States. 

“Becoming an American, to me, is the greatest thing I have ever achieved in my life,” says Timothy Cham, who fled violence in what is now South Sudan. After years in limbo, his family have settled in Baltimore, Maryland.

Children of war have experienced unimaginable trauma. It’s difficult for them to express themselves and heal from their experiences. Art can help — that's why the IRC held a mask-painting workshop for Syrian refugee children in Jordan to help them communicate their feelings.

“When you start doing anything, at first it’s going to be frightening,” Bothina Matar reassures the refugee women she works with in Dallas. She encourages them to strive for a better future—their children’s future—without forgetting their past. “I am trying my best,” Bothina tells them, “and succeeding somehow.”

“You don’t realize that you are impacting other people’s lives,” Christelle, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, says of some of her first friendships in the United States.

A single mom of two boys, Nabila Hamid works as an environmental service technician in a hospital while studying to become a nurse.