Even at the young age of fourteen, Ghazal Al-Madadha already has quite an extensive acting résumé and began reciting poetry as young as six years old. As a Jordanian national arts ambassador, she aims to empower other girls to make headway in Arab society and culture through the arts and beyond.

As a self-proclaimed small town kid who grew up on her grandfather’s farm, Aubrey learned the value and joy of hands-on labor from observing and working alongside her family. During a successful run in the corporate world, various factors—including impending burnout—led Aubrey to begin seeking a creative outlet to combat and manage stress. A chance encounter with a scrapped piece of furniture at the apartment dumpster during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic led her into the world of furniture resale and restoration—and ultimately to her own restoration as a person and creative.

When Gazi Khattab began practicing Arabic calligraphy as a child, he would go downtown to study the plethora of shop signage and advertisements on display for guidance and inspiration. This exposure to the environmental street décor of Jordan’s capital city eventually led him to begin collecting and preserving old signs—some of which are now on display in his Old Signs of Amman Museum in the heart of the city.

When Sanad Albokhari was a child, he had two recurring dreams. One was seeing the ocean. The other was living a rustic life—like a cowboy.

Javier was only five years old when he was separated from his mother and older sister as they tried to cross into the United States from Mexico. His family made it. But he was sent back. After two further failed immigration attempts with a protective stranger, little Javier made a solo attempt in hopes of finally being reunited with his family. Could he find the way? Listen as Javier shares the details of his harrowing journey.

Welcome to a new season of Stories of Our City—real stories from real people around the globe. 

This week's story comes from Lima, Peru. The daughter of Mexican immigrants to the United States who was born during the Great Depression, Gloria Aguilera Nichtawitz (Nēsh-ta-vitz) has a can-do spirit that perseveres. Coming from a line of honest, hardworking people, she found a way through various obstacles and challenges to realize her dream of helping others around the world through nursing.

Hip-hop is more than a genre of popular music; it’s a global culture and lifestyle. Having left its mark across the globe in the last several decades, no place has been untouched—not even the farthest islands. Ireland is no exception. Irish native Stevie G, both a music and radio DJ and one of the many worldwide influenced by this global phenomenon, has taken up the mantle of passing the history and culture of hip-hop on to the next generation. Listen as he shares his passion for sharing the knowledge and values of hip-hop culture with today’s youth in Ireland and beyond.

Although her collegiate studies initially brought Begum, a native of Turkey, to the United States, love is what ultimately brought her back. As one of only a handful of Turks in a small Texas city, this holistic nutritionist and expectant mother found that breaking out of her comfort zone was eventually the way to home sweet home.