Finding Home

In 2016, TIME began telling the story of newborn baby Heln and her family, who are Syrian refugees seeking asylum in Europe. Heln’s mother Taimaa learned she was pregnant soon after fleeing Syria, the baby is born in Greece and spends her first few months inside a tent in a refugee camp, where heat and water are in limited supply. But the hardest part is the waiting, waiting to hear which country in Europe will grant the young family asylum and a chance to find a safe home.

In this powerful interactive, Taimaa tells of the frustrations of waiting for asylum, the quiet moments of new motherhood, and the lonely struggle to fit in in a new land, through a series of text messages with TIME  video journalist Francesca Trianni. The intimate and immersive page features photographs by Lynsey Addario and reporting by TIME’s Aryn Baker.

It is just one story at the heart of Europe’s refugee crisis, where for the first time since World War II the majority of refugees are women and children. More than 1,000 women gave birth in Greek refugee camps in 2016 alone. Their babies, born of no nation, have entered a world that is increasingly hostile to refugees. This daily struggle plays out against the backdrop of Europe’s newest experiment to integrate hundreds of thousands of refugees, some into countries that have very little experience with outsiders. Finding Home, Heln’s First Year puts a name and a face on this real-life experience.

Reporting for this project is supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and Merck for Mothers. (Known as MSD for Mothers outside of the US and Canada).