In this episode of the Philanthropic Podcast, we sit down with a Somali refugee family who spent decades surviving war, enslavement, and extreme poverty before resettling in the United States.

From childhood in Somalia during the civil war, to life in Kenya’s Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps, this conversation reveals the brutal realities of forced migration, refugee camps, water scarcity, food insecurity, and waiting 10+ years for resettlement. The family shares firsthand experiences of violence, survival, UNHCR processes, and what it truly means to live as a refugee — including growing up without education access, healthcare, or employment. We also explore the challenges of resettlement in Utah, culture shock, learning English, rebuilding dignity through work, and the long road from refugee camp to American life. This episode offers an unfiltered look into Somali refugee experiences, illegal vs legal migration misconceptions, refugee resettlement, and the human cost of displacement — told directly by those who lived it.Key Moments:00:00:00 – “Putting Life on Hold for 10 Years as a Refugee”00:04:56 – “Growing Up Enslaved”00:07:47 – “A Tomato Was Worth More Than a Human Life”00:09:32 – “Hiding While His Father Was Executed"”00:10:41 – “Escaping Somalia on Foot at Just 20 Years Old”00:12:19 – “Arriving Alone at a Refugee Camp With Nothing”00:21:24 – “Learning a Trade So His Children Wouldn’t Starve”00:26:43 – “Walking Miles Daily as a Child to Find Water”00:35:39 – “Waiting Over a Decade to Be Allowed a New Life”00:40:09 – “Seeing Snow for the First Time”00:42:11 – “Spending Two Years in School Without Speaking”00:56:25 – “Trying to Raise Eight Children on $12 an Hour”somali refugee family, refugee story, refugee camp life, kakuma refugee camp, dadaab refugee camp, kenya refugees, somalia refugees, refugee resettlement, life as a refugee, forced migration, humanitarian stories, immigration stories, resettled to utah, refugee experience, african refugee stories, global displacement, human rights stories, life after resettlement, philanthropic podcast, migration and refugees