My Journey: A Story of Resilience and Hope
Ahmad Alizada recently shared his journey with RootsAndRoutesMag.com and below is a Ahmad’s story.
Ahmad Alizada As Cover Story – May 2025 Magazine Edition
Background, Interests, and Life Experiences
My name is Ahmad Alizada. I was born in Afghanistan and raised in Iran. My childhood and youth were marked by severe and discriminatory conditions in a society where Afghan migrants were denied the right to study many subjects, weren’t offered dignified work opportunities, and in some areas, were even forbidden to buy bread. I lived with daily discrimination and systemic racism. These experiences fueled a dream of escaping Iran and seeking a brighter future in Europe, a dream many of my compatriots also held.
Leaving one’s family and everything dear to them is never an easy decision. Despite all the hardships, the utter hopelessness of my future in Iran was what pushed me to take the risk. I endured a perilous and painful journey before finally reaching Sweden and seeking asylum.
In Sweden, despite initial limitations, I decided to teach myself Swedish using YouTube. Eventually, I could communicate with locals, joined a choir, met a Swedish couple, and moved from the refugee camp into their home. I started working at a carpentry firm and played football for a Division Four team. But after four years of effort, my asylum application was rejected, forcing me to leave everything again, including my fiancée, whose memory remains an open wound in my heart.
This time, I came to France. After a long wait, I was finally recognized as a refugee. I’m not a professional writer, but for me, writing is a way to heal, a way to tell my story. I love film and have amassed a large personal archive. I’m passionate about music from various cultures and enjoy dancing. Sharing human experiences is important to me through writing, film, or music.
My dream is to one day be able to tell my story, the pain, the hope, and the wounded soul a migrant carries within, in a way that goes beyond the usual clichés. Because we are not just migrants; we are eternal pain in human form, with dreams bigger than borders.
Greatest Challenge
A migrant’s life is full of immense challenges. I would say the greatest in my life have come in several stages: six rejections from the Swedish Migration Agency, both for my asylum application and my attempt to get a work permit. Deciding which country to go to after Sweden. Starting from scratch in a new country. Being subject to the Dublin Regulation.
Being forced to separate from my beloved. And finally, finding myself alone under a tent on the streets of Paris, without an identity, waiting.
My life was turned upside down, like in a movie. I had fallen from heaven to earth. I felt a whirlwind of anger, sorrow, and hopelessness. I saw myself as nothing more than a loser. I won’t lie; those days were worse than words can ever describe. How could I handle all of this without completely breaking, without losing hope for the future?
I remember that even as a child, I had a feeling that there was a wild, untamed horse within me. Perhaps it sounds poetic, but it was this wild horse within me that propelled me forward, away from the darkness, toward the open fields of freedom. Despite the enormous psychological pressure, my first step was to start learning French, again via YouTube. The memories of those who died during the smuggling journey gave me strength. I told myself that their spirits and my loved ones were watching me. I still had the chance to live, to dance in the darkness. And I continued. Even today, I continue.
Proud Moment
Perhaps I’ve never stood on a stage to receive an award, and maybe I haven’t left a significant mark on the world. But what I am truly proud of is something much simpler and yet deeper: that I have succeeded in finding a place in people’s hearts. Not by impressing, but by being myself, with my smile and my simplicity.
In times of loneliness and hardship, the only thing that kept me going was the love I received from others. One family in Sweden and another in France opened their hearts to me as if I were their own son. Friends in large gatherings say, “We’ve never had a friend like him.”
In a world that has sometimes cast me aside, these people were my sanctuary. That they chose to love me, that is the greatest treasure in my life. I am proud that, despite exhaustion and wounds, I can still smile, and that smile is genuine. That the little warmth and kindness I have within me can still spread light around me.
Perhaps this is my greatest achievement: to be a haven for the hearts that once gave me shelter.
Daily Motivation
One doesn’t always have to be strong or motivated. Sometimes, you need to allow yourself to be weak and unmotivated, to understand the meaning of these states and what their absence signifies.
I don’t wake up every day with a smile or the spirit of a gladiator, ready for battle. Motivation must be sought in the meaning of life, and meaning within oneself. You have to imagine, to paint pictures of your dreams within your mind.
It can be waking up and seeing my potted plants, whose greenery whispers that life continues. A message from my family thanking me for being there. Colleagues who laugh at my jokes. Sitting by the Seine and observing every passerby as if they were a page in a collection of short stories called “People.”
A phone call from somewhere in the world that reminds me I exist. Café chairs that are still waiting for me to sit in them. Streets that want my footsteps. Books whose pages long for my fingertips. And lips, burning with thirst, waiting to be quenched by mine.
All of this is my promise of life. All of this is my motivation to continue.
Contribution to Society
Coming this far in life has been possible thanks to the support of others and my own self-support. Kind hearts, comforting hands, warm embraces….. they have carried me
through the darkness. Thanks to them, I have learned how, even if just a little, to make a difference in others’ lives.
To be a listener. A resting place for tired hearts. A small light on someone else’s path. Have I succeeded? I don’t know. But I try to be a bridge to cross, a sunrise in the darkness, a door to freedom. A smooth path through hardship. A shadow in the heat. A word for silent lips. A voice for tired throats. I don’t know…
Message to Our Readers
You are a part of this world’s story. No advice or admonitions are needed when every second of your life moves forward with your steps, creating a narrative, like a pen against paper. I don’t even fully understand what another migrant’s life looks like, for I have never been anyone else. People are the authors of their own lives. Heroes of their own stories.
If I were to say anything, get to know what exists within you. And remember: perhaps a thirsty flower in its pot is waiting for you to water it. Perhaps you are the light of hope that makes others’ lives flourish.
A Message of Universal Connection
Ahmad, your story is a testament to the indomitable human spirit. You’ve faced unimaginable adversity, yet you continue to seek light, to connect, and to spread kindness. What shines brightest through your words is the profound understanding that human connection is our most precious currency. In a world that often builds walls, you have consistently sought bridges, from learning new languages to joining a choir, from finding family in strangers to offering solace to others. Your journey reminds us that true strength isn’t just about enduring hardship, but about finding the courage to remain open, to love, and to be loved, even when your heart carries deep wounds. Your narrative isn’t just a migrant’s story; it’s a universal tale of hope’s enduring flame and the transformative power of human compassion. Thank you for sharing your truth.
So remember that: In every migrant’s story, there is not only loss and survival—but also light, love, and limitless human spirit.
