Sulwan Ahmed & Mazin Ahmed January 2023

Sulwan Ahmed came to Maine when she was just a baby, in 2003, after her family fled the Darfur genocide in Sudan. Her friend Mazin Ahmed’s family came to Maine in 2012 to seek asylum — a journey that continues to this day as he seeks full citizenship: “I had to start filling out all the paperwork and translations at 14, and I still do it, and I’m 24 now.” Despite their different backgrounds, both share a love of Maine and its growing diversity — and a sense of responsibility, to the parents who helped them get here, and younger generations. For Sulwan, growing up surrounded by community gossip inspired her to speak up: “I don’t think our parents understood how much it impacted us as kids and developing the necessary relationships we need with people in our communities. Our parents have this ‘we gotta stick to the tribe’ attitude which is cool, we should acknowledge our culture, especially coming from a group of people who are actively being displaced and ethnic cleansing and all that, but when you’re here, tribal markers don’t exist — and the kids need each other.” Although he’s just graduated and hasn’t chosen a profession yet, Mazin is sure of one thing: “The only concern I have in my mind is I’m not just doing it for myself, because the community brought me up, my family, my friends. You have to give back to the community no matter what.”