For over a decade, I’ve fought to rebuild my life after making a decision that changed life as I know it, choosing faith over fear in a place where such a choice comes at a high cost, and no tolerance.

I lost almost everything. I fled. I started over. I taught myself new languages, trained for a career in aviation, and did everything I could to stand on my own. But no matter how hard I worked, I kept running into barriers that made it hard to belong.

Now, I’m launching this campaign not just to survive — but to create stability, dignity, and a future I can call my own.

If you believe in second chances — real ones — I need your help.

My name is Malik, and this is my story;

I’m 37 years old. Eleven years ago, I made the most transformative decision of my life: I chose to follow Jesus. That moment brought deep peace to my soul, but it came at a cost. The environment I was in rejected that change, and almost overnight, I lost nearly everything. Friends, opportunities, my sense of safety… all gone.

Since then, I’ve been rebuilding from scratch. Every day has been a lesson in perseverance — a test of faith, resilience, and hope.

By late 2016, I had no choice but to leave my home for fear of my life and seek refuge elsewhere. I sought asylum in Italy, where I threw myself into learning a new language and building valuable skills. Throughout this entire journey to date, I have continued to work low-paying local jobs and pursued any available online opportunities to support myself. However, these jobs were neither sufficient nor stable, as I frequently found myself unemployed when seasonal work ended or projects concluded. I dreamed of a career in aviation, studying tirelessly and grabbing every chance to prove myself.

including going back to school with students much younger than me and study to get a GED that would allow me to pursue my dream in aviation industry. I graduated in 2018 and started to seek my dream until i found my chance and went to aviation school in Madrid, Spain in 2019. In 2020, COVID added more obstacle in my way limit both my chances and resources as I was funding myself throughout the Journey.

But despite all the work I did, my first real opportunity slipped away—my qualifications weren’t questioned — my presence was. I faced prejudice and administrative barriers.

That wore me down. I learned a painful truth: sometimes, no matter how hard you work, some systems just doesn’t let you belong.

COVID and difficult circumstances tested me, but the fire that fueled my pursuit of a career in aviation remained strong. Then I tried again and I was met with the best opportunity I had come across, I needed to renew my passport to proceed. What should have taken one month turned into an eight-month ordeal, with every excuse imaginable—bad ink, missing signatures, contradictory instructions. Three times I had to restart the process from the beginning, and three times it was invalidated. The opportunity disappeared. I was left devastated.

Hoping for a fresh start and a chance at a better life, I made the difficult decision to begin again in a new country. I flew to The Netherlands with hope in my heart — but soon, that hope was shattered. I was treated like a mistake, left out in the cold with no access to proper clothing to protect me from the freezing weather. Even before this step, I was already physically and mentally worn down, but this experience broke me even more deeply.

It took time—more time than I expected—to recover and regain my strength.

For a long while, I didn’t believe it was even possible. But somehow, through faith and persistence, I’ve found my way back to hope.

This isn’t just a dream — it’s a lifeline. It’s a chance to build a future.

Beyond that, I dream of building a home of my own. A place of peace, love, and stability. I’ve carried the vision of starting a family in my heart for so long, and I’m holding on to the belief that with your help, that future can finally begin.

Starting this GoFundMe wasn’t an easy decision. But my goals, and the people I love are more important than pride. I’ve come this far through sheer determination, and now I’m taking one more step forward.

The funds I’m raising will go toward purchasing a car, which I’ll use to start a small business offering tourism services and potentially driving with Uber in low season.

This isn’t just a job, it’s a path to financial independence. It’s a way to put a roof over my head, build stability, and begin saving for the future I’ve dreamed of for so long, it’s a way for me to hire my own skills and experience in a way that i work to build my own opportunities which can’t be taken away because I’m an outsider or because someone decided that i don’t belong.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. If you choose to support me or to share my campaign, please know this: your help isn’t just helping me start a career. It’s helping me reclaim a life, and for that, I am truly, deeply grateful.

— Malik