A Westport student is using the power of storytelling to help refugee families.

Zahra Avdiu says her relatives fled to the U.S. in 1999 after being forced out of Kosova during the ethnic cleansing campaign by the Serbians.

"A lot of the time, I'm shocked," Avdiu says. "It's disturbing to hear some of the things they went through."

As a daughter of an immigrant father, the Greenwich Academy student understands the struggles refugees face coming to a new country.

"Finding the right resources and connections so that you can reestablish your life in a new place and a country," Avdiu says. "The language barrier, if there is one, is also a huge struggle."

That's why Avdiu started a charity and published her first children's book, titled 'The Heart Gems of Rainbow Valley.'

She says all proceeds from the book will go to local charities that support refugee families.

"Although it's not the easiest of times," Avdiu says, "You will be assimilated into society, and you will be comfortable, hopefully. You belong.'