Imad was born in Beirut, Lebanon and raised during three decades of violence and tumult.  At times, his family of five went about their lives; learning, educating, and conducting usual business.  Yet, these times were punctuated by random episodic violence that would send citizens into local bomb shelters. 
Imad and his wife met in medical school and came to the US to complete their training.  They served in rural Maine as a step in their path to citizenship. Today Imad works at Central Maine Medical Center as an infectious disease specialist and lives with his wife and two sons in Cumberland, ME.

Music: Lena Chamamyan sings "Ya Msafira"

Enrico was born and raised in Naples, Italy.  There, Enrico taught history and philosophy for twenty years and coached soccer and basketball at a professional level.
In 2005 he met a woman from Maine, they fell in love, got married and returned to her home state in 2015.   They have lived in the Biddeford area since. He is presently teaching Italian at the Language Exchange, in Portland.  He also coaches locally and has his own photography business called Photo Italia: A Touch of Italy.

Music: Bruce Springsteen sings "The Promise"

Emma is originally from the United Kingdom and moved to Maine in 2011.  In her adult life she found a beautiful way of expressing herself through jewelry making.  
Now Emma has become a Creativity Coach so she can help other people to find ways to mindfully express themselves through whatever they create.  Doing work around values and beliefs helps clients to understand their reason for being and frees people up to express themselves clearly.  You can learn more about her practice on her coaching website.
www.emmatallackcoaching.com

Music: Nina Simone sings "Feeling Good"

Sabina is originally from Baku, Azerbaijan and came to Maine in 2015 after winning the diversity green card lottery.  She is dancer, model, ceramicist, art therapist and conceptual artist now living and working in Portland, Maine. 
She enjoyed rigorous studies on the academics of art at the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Art and she also worked with Mark Jenkins on a project called "Manimals"  in 2013 where she deepened her love of large scale conceptual art.  Sabina is a representative of Arts Council Azerbaijan (an Independent art platform and NGO) and has been a member of the Union of Azerbaijan Artists since 2012. 
One of her wishes is to have her own art studio where she can freely express herself while also offering art therapy to children with Down syndrome.  Another wish is to open the same kind of organization as the Arts Council she loved in Azerbaijan so that artists here can work and grow together. 

Sabina's art is visible on her Instagram site: jannetartstudio.

Music: Vagif Mustafazade performs "Fantaziya." 

Burcin's theme in life is "take a risk" and "rise up."  She learned this from her family who opened a restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey when she was a girl.  Her father, mother and brother ran the restaurant while she looked after her younger brother, even directly following the earthquake of 1999.  They served many wonderful things like the dishes pictured below.  These are foods she loves that make her feel proud of her family and connected to her home.
Burcin came to Maine in 2017 with her husband Burhan to study at Southern Maine Community College.  She takes education and art classes there while living in Old Orchard Beach.  Her artwork is currently hanging at UMVA gallery as part of the Migration Experience show.  FMI: Click here.

Music: Athena sings "Everything Is Going To Be Alright" or "Her Sey Guzel Olacak."

Max grew up in the Southern Highlands region of Mendi, Papua New Guinea and attended high school in the capital city of Port Moresby.  He came to the US in 2013 and arrived in Maine in 2015.  Max is working toward a degree in Electrical Engineering through full time classes at SMCC.  His hope is to take his electrification skills back to share with the people of his hometown.
He gives his recipe for MuMu and speaks warmly of his countrymen.  PNG has over 820 indigenous languages and great cultural diversity as well as rich natural resources in numerous ecosystems.  Max is careful to speak for himself because it is particularly difficult to speak for all in such a diverse country. 

Music: John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads"  This song was translated to Pigeon and was popular in PNG when Max was a boy.  He is reminded of his sister when he hears this song. 

Mohamed Kilani was born to Iraqi parents in Amman, Jordan where he lived until his family got resettled in the US.  He arrived in Portland, Maine as a nine year old in 2009. 
Mo adapted to his new world quickly.  He watched Ellen on TV until he mastered the American accent.  Everyday he uses his hard-won work ethic to succeed at everything he does. He is profoundly grateful to his family for their shared insight into how to appreciate humanity, work hard and love one another well, regardless of how hard that can be to do at times.
Presently, Mo is a freshman at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine and when he earns his bachelor's degree he plans to stay in Maine to contribute to the community in substantial ways, understanding life from many different perspectives. 

Music: "Dust it Off" by the DO

Kifah Abdulla, local poet, artist and organizer returns to NMS (NMS141) to promote the upcoming art show called Migration Experience - Reflections of Maine Immigrant Artists which will run from April 2-27 at UMVA Gallery (516 Congress St, Portland).  Kifah co-curated the show with John Ripton and Titi De Baccarat.  They are excited to offer the public opening on First Friday--April 6th, 2018 from 5-8 PM.  The event will include an opportunity to visit with artists from around the globe (China, Gabon, Czech Republic, Iraq, Jordan, Somalia, South Sudan, etc.) as well as hear music and poetry performed live at the opening.  Free and open to the public.

Music: Madonna sings Rumi's poem, "Bittersweet."

Additionally, this was a Begathon weekend and if you would be able to contribute to WMPG please click here to keep community radio alive in Maine. Thank you so much for your on-going support of NMS.

Anna Mikuskova is from the Czech Republic and came to live in Maine in 2005.  She tells about her childhood impressions of communist life and how it impacted her family. 
Today Anna is a fine art photographer (www.mikuphoto.com)
and will be showing her silver gelatin landscape prints in two concurrent upcoming shows:
"Reflections on Silver" Paul Caponigro and Anna Mikušková," at the Frank Brockman Gallery, Brunswick, Maine. March 31 - April 21, 2018.
and
"Migration Experience" at UMVA Gallery on Congress St, Portland.  April 2-27, with opening on April 6, 2018 between 5-8 PM).

Anna's images below:
Left- "By The River",
Right - "Boothbay Harbor"

Music: "Promeny" by Czech band Cechomor

Brenda was born in South Sudan.  As a toddler she, her mother, and sister fled the civil war and spent nine years in Kakuma, a UNHCR refugee camp in Kenya.  They were re-settled to the US in 2012 and re-located to Maine in 2013, when she was in seventh grade. 
After learning English Brenda had a lot she wanted to say and do.  She has sung and advocated and spoken in many different venues since then.  Recently, she has been recognized locally as a leader and social organizer.  (FMI: See Portland Press Herald article.  See Hardy Girls Healthy Women site).  Brenda works with Cultivating Community and volunteers in many capacities in the community when she is not wrapping up her high school classes and planning for college in the fall. 

Music: "Do Like That" by Korede Bello