This September, we’re releasing stories about migration, self-acceptance, and life and death in our brand-new animated season: “Between Two Worlds.” Watch a new animation every week and explore the moments of great transition that help teach us who we are.
A Life of Honor
Joseph Patton joined the Navy in 1955, during a time when it was illegal for service members to be openly gay. At StoryCorps, he remembers serving in silence while also reflecting on the beauty and joy that love has brought to his life.
Man of Steel
To Ken Kobus, the steel mill was always a part of his life. His father, John Kobus, dedicated 40 years of his career as a steelmaker. Towards the end of John’s life, he spent it bedridden in hospice care, motioning and manipulating the air as if he was still making steel. At StoryCorps, Ken sits down with his friend Ron Barraf to honor John’s legacy.
A Piece of Home
In 1998, a violent conflict forced Najat Hamza to flee her home in Oromia, a regional state in Ethiopia. She recalls the night she said goodbye to her mother before she, her father, and two siblings left for Kenya. Najat eventually settled down in Minnesota, but she still longs for a place she left behind. She came to StoryCorps to reflect on her journey and share what home means to her.
With a landmass of 136,560 square miles and more than 35 million people, Oromia is Ethiopia’s largest regional state. Its distinct agro-climatic zones—arid/dry, tropical/jungle, and temperate—contribute to the area’s physiographic diversity. It is home to the capital city of Addis Ababa, the Bale mountains, and has coffee farms to the west and south of the region.
Like the diverse climate, Oromia is home to many ethnic groups. In certain areas, diversity of language, traditions, and socioeconomic stratification have been sources of tension that caused a political divide among some groups.
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