“Ohio Is My
Second Country”
more than one place.
Migration is a basic act of being human.
People have always moved for safety and opportunity, since the beginning of time. Ohio is home to people born in many different countries. They bring courage, commitment to family, and the desire to help their communities. It takes tremendous strength to start over in a new place.
Ohio Immigrant Alliance and artist Shema Asifiwe created this book by asking immigrants to tell us about scenes from their native places. There is vibrancy, beauty, and many happy memories, even in places experiencing conflict. Many migrants carry the feeling of being from two places for the rest of their lives, and love both.
This book is for everyone: children and adults, schools, libraries, and community groups. Nineteen drawings depicting scenes from sixteen countries, teaching words in fifteen languages. Illustrations drawn with varying detail so that people with different motor skills can enjoy coloring.
Take a page home.
Free pages from the book, released throughout spring and summer. New pages drop regularly — check back often.
Meet us at the Columbus Arts Festival.
Join Ohio Immigrant Alliance, artist Shema Asifiwe, and Mauritanian-American pop star Salif Sarr for a live performance celebrating the message behind the book. Free coloring pages for the crowd, books and OIA merchandise available for purchase.
13
Cultural Arts Center Stage
Support Ohio Immigrant Alliance.
Purchases through Bookshop.org support Ohio Immigrant Alliance and independent bookstores across the country. Share it and help spread the message that migration is human and Ohio is home.
Teaching tools for every setting.
We’ve created a Teaching Guide to assist educators, group leaders, librarians, and anyone hosting group experiences with the book. It includes discussion questions, language activities, and resources to help your group get the most out of every illustration.
Whether you use this book in a class, camp, or community group — or color on your own — we hope you enjoy it as much as we did putting it together.
Download the Teaching GuideAbout the Artist.
Shema Asifiwe is a student at Aiken New Tech High School and a young author, artist, and advocate born in Burundi, East Africa. He moved to the United States with his family in July 2019.
He is the writer and illustrator of Unexpected Change / Mabadiliko Yasiyotarajiwa, a bilingual memoir published by Maketank Inc. In 2024, his artwork “Friend Code” was selected as one of five global winners of the UNHCR Youth with Refugees Art Contest and featured on UNIQLO t-shirts sold internationally.
He believes art is a powerful tool for education, healing, and connection, and uses his creative work to encourage understanding and compassion within his community and beyond.
Colored a page from the book? Share it. Post your artwork on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok with #OhioIsHome and help spread the message that migration is human and Ohio is home.
Follow @OhioImmigrantAlliance