Belonging Across Borders

Joanne Lockwood is joined by writer and media producer Mina Sharif to explore what belonging looks like when your life spans countries, cultures and competing narratives. Mina reflects on being born in Afghanistan, raised in Canada as part of a refugee family, returning to Afghanistan as an adult for 15 years, and then resettling back in Canada. Through her story, the episode examines how identity can feel fragmented—and how it can also become a strength when you learn to hold multiple worlds at once.

They discuss the limits of media-led perceptions of Afghanistan, and the importance of approaching gaps in understanding with compassion rather than defensiveness. Mina shares how displacement can carry grief, loss of status, and pressure to perform gratitude, and why creating space for trauma, healing and dignity is essential for newcomers—especially young people—to integrate in healthy ways.

The conversation moves from personal experience into practical human connection: asking better questions, resisting broad categorisations, avoiding saviourism, and seeing displaced people as capable individuals with agency, skills and complex lives. Mina also talks about her work in educational media in Afghanistan, her workshops with service providers, and how storytelling and fiction can open a fuller window into everyday life beyond headlines.