I want to participate in 100% Foreign? so I can get others to see me as 100% Danish. I have lived in Aalborg for 30 years, and I just LOVE the place.
Aalborg is my city, and I am a very active citizen.

Nevertheless, I often hear others refer to those of us not born here as refugees or strangers. They turn it into a question of us and them. It makes me so frustrated and sad, because I don’t know what to do to make you see me as one of you. I am 100% integrated, but integration is a two-way street. When will the society accept me 100%? Teheran is the place where I was born, but when I was 16, I fled
with my older brother. In Iran you could not voice your opinion, let alone have one. You could not assemble for meetings. My father learned it the hard way when he was imprisoned and tortured. My memories of this made me get involved in the Danish society. When I was 22, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and my world came
tumbling down. But then I joined the local sclerosis association, and since then I have been in the Disability Council and the Accessibility Council in Aalborg as well as on other boards.

I love working for boards, because it offers me influence, a voice and responsibility. It has added new focus and meaning to my life. The disease put a stop to my dream of going to university and study administration, but with my volunteer work I can still do something for the Danish society.

Asghar Azizi / 46 / male / in a relationship / volunteer and early retirement / Aalborg / from Iran / came to Denmark in 1990 / residence permit 1990