When Stars Are Scattered

An Afterword details what happened to Omar and Hassan after leaving Dadaab. They settled in Tucson, Arizona, where Omar worked at a resort and attended the University of Arizona. Hassan received medical care and began classes at an adult care center. They became American citizens in 2014. Omar graduated with a degree in international development, hoping to help other African refugees. Sarura’s family was resettled to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She and Omar began a relationship and soon married. They and Hassan settled in Lancaster. Omar took a job as a resettlement case manager with Church World Service. Through his job, he met new arrivals from refugee camps, and he always asked if anyone knew of his mother. In 2014, Omar’s and Hassan’s mother, Hawa Ali, came to Ifo looking for her sons, whom she had not seen in 23 years. Hassan and Omar were able to reunite with her in Kenya in 2017. The Afterword explains that travel laws in 2019 prevented his mother from coming to the US but that Omar was trying to arrange for her emigration at the time of the book’s publication. Omar also founded Refugee Strong, a volunteer organization that sends supplies to refugees and visits Dadaab yearly.