What Would You Take If You Had to Flee Your Home?

As Millions Escape the War in Ukraine, an Old Question Takes On New Urgency

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It’s a question as old as questions: What would you take if you suddenly had to flee your home? When I was applying to college forty years ago, one question I was asked to answer was, “What would you take if your house caught on fire?” In those days, before computers, cell phones, digital photography, and the like, the most common answers were: photographs, documents, valuables.

In recent days, this question has taken on heightened urgency as more than a million and a half people have fled the carnage in Ukraine in a little more than a week. The United Nations has said that up to four million are expected to leave the country, and that doesn’t count the millions more who have fled their homes in cities for shelter in the countryside. In a country of 44 million, up to a quarter have likely already been displaced.

What are they taking with them?

Based on intrepid reporting from the region—along with poignant accounts from similar waves of refugee waves from Syria and Afghanistan—a touching and somewhat surprising picture has begun to emerge. These are the seven things that refugees take when they flee:

Photo by Tyler Jump/International Rescue Committee

1. Medicine

The International Rescue Committee teamed up with photographer Tyler Jump a few years ago to document what refugees from war-torn countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia carried with them. In Syria, a couple escaped by rubber boat with their 10-month-old daughter, Doua. Their priorities: Medical supplies. Here’s what they took:

· Hat for the baby

· An assortment of medication, a bottle of sterile water, and a jar of baby food

· A small supply of napkins for diaper changes

· A hat and a pair of socks for the baby

· Assortment of pain relievers, sunscreen and sunburn ointment, toothpaste

· Personal documents (including the baby’s vaccination history)

· Wallet (with photo ID and money)

· Cell phone charger

· Yellow headband

2. Documents

Nizar, a Syrian escaping to Europe, was arrested once on the Egyptian border but tried again the following year. As recounted in the Guardian, police hit his daughter, and the family spent a week in a jail cell. The blessing: The ship they were trying to board sank; 500 passengers died. The following year they escaped with the following items:

· a used lifejacket

· a passport

· ginseng

· panadol

· sea-sickness tablets

· dates

· electrician’s diploma

· high school certificate

· family paperwork

3. Pets

The dominant image coming out of Ukrainian refugees this week has been pets. Ludmilla Nadzemovska of Kyiv planned early—purchasing traveling cages for her four cats last month as reports of an imminent invasion increased. As soon as her neighbors were killed by Russian forces, she took off. As she told ABC News in Hungary: “I want to go back, but my priority is my family and the pets.”

4. Toys

Mercy Corps is one of the premier organizations serving refugees. Muhanad, 7, and his family left Syria for Jordan. His most treasured keepsake: a toy robot that was a birthday gift from his grandfather, “who is now in heaven.”

Muhanad, age 7 (photo courtesy of Mercy Corps)

5. Jewelry

Nearly twenty years ago, I traveled to Iraq in the middle of the American-led war to visit religious sites that had been closed off to the world for decades. Alissa Rubin, then with the Los Angeles Times, was instrumental in helping a neophyte learn how to survive in a war zone.

Alissa wrote a beautiful piece in the New York Times telling the story of Afghan refugees and what they carried in the recent evacuation. Tahera Ahmadi, 33, a doctor who had worked for an American firm, left behind her laptop and iPhone but carried a piece of jewelry.

“I was not the type of girl who was into wearing jewelry, but my sisters told me that I would need it for difficult days,” Ms. Ahmadi said. “They were right.” She sold family wedding rings and bracelets to get money for a taxi to the airport.

Here’s how Alissa described what happened next:

A jeweler bought one of the pieces, but when he saw tears welling in her eyes he refused to buy the other: a pin made of blue fabric in the shape of a butterfly with a smaller, paper-thin gold butterfly at its center. It had also been a gift from her eldest sister. “My sister told me the butterfly stands for revolution,” she said.

6. Religious Objects

The United Nations Refugee Agency has a collection of haunting photographs of refugees holding a single object they carried with them, from a musical instrument to a school geography book. One item echoes an object in the Mercy Corps images: a Koran. Iman, who fled Aleppo for Turkey, heard stories of fighters sexually harassing victims. The most valuable object for her to hold onto was her Koran. “As long as I have it with me, I’m connected to God.”

7. Art

This last entry surprised me when I first saw the images but then made intuitive sense. People take art. Muhammad, from Damascus, carried:

Muhammad, 21, carries a drawing of a female friend from home (photo courtesy of Mercy Corps)

The left side represents her childhood in Syria before the war. The right side represents her childhood after the conflict. “This memory is important to me because it shows this sweet girl's happy childhood before the war and her childhood turning to stone after the war began.” Muhammad now teaches art to students in Mercy Corps’ activity programs.

Godspeed to the tens of millions of refugees still dislocated from their homes around the world. If you’d like to make a donation, please consider these sources: UNHCR, IRC, Mercy Corps, and the Red Cross.

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Thanks for reading The Nonlinear Life. Please help us grow the community by subscribing, sharing, and commenting below. Also, you can learn more about me, read my introductory post, or scroll through my other posts.

You might enjoy reading these posts:

Ukraine: What To Watch, Who To Follow, Where To Give, What To Read

Why Posting Ukrainian Flags on Social Media Can Actually Help the War Effort

Has the Pandemic Ruined Friendships, Too?

Or check out my books that inspired this newsletter: Life Is in the Transitions and The Secrets of Happy Families.

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