The series explores involuntary and internal displacement caused by armed conflict, violence, and natural disasters. It offers a glimpse into the personal stories of people from different countries, allowing you to experience leaving your home suddenly, losing loved ones or possessions, navigating life after displacement and trying to rebuild your live and find a way to return home. The stories highlight the importance of the objects people manage to keep with them while fleeing, showing how these belongings connect them to their former homes, families, and identities. Learn more about the campaign: https://holding-on.iom.int/en/stories

• The Bahamas – Hurricane Dorian devastated the island of Abaco in 2019, forcing many residents to flee their homes. In the aftermath, they faced the challenge of returning home and rebuilding their lives.

• Colombia – Discover the story of a woman who was forced to flee paramilitary groups in the decades of armed conflict and lost several members of her family along the way.

• Iraq – Follow the story of a photographer who fled Mosul during the fighting against the Islamic State and held on to his cameras as a link to his former life and family.

• Nigeria – Meet a woman who fled attacks by Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria, spending days on the run before eventually finding shelter in a displacement camp.

• The Philippines – Learn about the 2017 siege of Marawi, when fighting between groups affiliated with the Islamic State and government forces drove almost the entire population out of the city.

• Ukraine – Follow an internally displaced family from eastern Ukraine who fled their home when it was shelled in the conflict that began in 2014, and who began to rebuild their lives somewhere else.

Each VR film is approximately three minutes long and is in English. A printed Slovak translation of the narration is available, along with an English transcript that visitors can read before watching the film.