I love my homeland,
But my heart burns from the feeling of being without a homeland and feeling like a stranger in my own country.

I love my homeland, but I can’t do anything in it.
From the most important matters to the smallest joys, I am unable.

I can’t study.
I can’t work.
I can’t think about my future or my progress.

I can’t go to amusement parks.
I can’t exercise or go to the gym.
I can’t go shopping or wander through stores.
I can’t go to restaurants.
I can’t walk in its streets or mountains.

I can’t ride a bicycle.
I can’t drive a car.

I can’t go to the cinema and watch a movie.
I can’t wear what I like.

I can’t go on outings with my family and friends on weekends or during summer vacations.

Living in this country has taken away all the small joys of life and all my human rights.

I have no right to choose.
I can’t make any decision about my own life.

My whole being is filled with fear and hopelessness.
And if I speak of another issue—
In this country, in the place where I live, we don’t even have access to enough water.

We can’t even take care of our health.
We can’t meet even the most basic and essential needs of life.

Here, every day and every moment, we say goodbye to one more of our dreams.

We don’t just worry about the distant future—we even worry about tomorrow.
I don’t know… are we extremely unfortunate people, destined to never see a good day? Or is our land cursed, bearing all the world’s suffering and pain?

Maybe we are a deeply unfortunate people who suffer and are oppressed wherever we go.

We are exiled and left without a future wherever we turn.
Wherever we seek refuge, our shelter is destroyed.

My heart aches from this overwhelming hopelessness, from all these problems and pain.

Inside me are countless bitter stories.

I’ve become a very quiet person.
I’m lost and confused about my life, my future, and the future of my people and the daughters of my country…

I see no way out.
No path to move forward.
These feelings, this hopelessness, will one day destroy me.