Refugee in Arabic Calligraphy from https://twitter.com/MalekJandali
“So now I know what the word ‘refugee’ means, that you leave your own country Syria, and you come to a strange land that you don’t know, and you stay there and suffer its difficulties. That’s the word ‘refugee’, it’s very strange”*
Sometimes my words and passion feel tired. I think to myself “I’m saying the same thing – over and over.” It’s then that I need to use the words of others, whether they be in spoken word or in print. Today I hope you take four minutes and watch this hard but hopeful video and the voices of two moms from Syria.
“It is a difficult feeling when a mother feels she has to defend her children….A mother must be higher than a mother, stronger than a mother. Perhaps this has allowed the Syrian mother to release some of her hidden strengths. Sometimes I turn the problems they are experiencing into stories to teach them [how to cope]. When I talk to them, sometimes we reminisce together about our home. Yes, we talk about things like that. So that our children continue to love their homeland. So that they don’t forget. Particularly here I have children with me. If this goes on too long, they might forget their families. They might forget everything.”
“The experience of being a refugee is extremely tough. To be forced to leave your home, to leave the lovely atmosphere, your friends, and the school environment. I dream of being in my home in Syria….Despite all this, we have some good memories in Zaatari camp. Memories with our brother refugees here. We are all stuck here in one place.The situation is difficult, but perhaps, because of some divine wisdom, people from all parts of Syria have been gathered together in one place.”
*Quote from Syria’s Child Refugees: You feel they have lost their hearts.