Asad Hussein is a 22-year-old refugee. Last August, he got onto the back of a truck in Dabaab, Kenya. He sat down with other passengers among food supplies being driven to Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital.

The truck went across the desert and deep into an area controlled by supporters of the al-Shabab extremist group. On his way to Mogadishu, Hussein got the chance to see where his father grew up.

The New York Times newspaper published his story about the ride. Now, Asad Hussein is preparing for another trip. He was recently accepted at one of the world’s most famous schools. He is making plans to attend Princeton University in the United States.

Asad Hussein was born in Dadaab, one of the world’s largest refugee camps, in 1996. His parents and older sister had fled the unrest in Somalia five years earlier in search of a new life. Dadaab was meant to be a temporary stop, but became the family’s home.

In 2005, Hussein’s sister, Maryan, immigrated to the United States with her husband and son. It took 11 years for her and her brother to reunite.

Aliqismet BADALOV,

“Khalq qazeti”