Stories.
‘We walked for 17 days, step by step, away from everyone we loved and everything we had built.’
Imad
Malak's Story.
"During the war and bombing, my grandparents’ house was a safe place for our whole village. Their home was the only one with a basement so the whole village would try to fit into it to keep safe. I can still remember my home and how it looked.
"When the soldiers came, it was dark, and they told us we should prepare to leave. We had no power, so my mother had to wait for it to get light outside and only had a few hours to pack our documents and the most important things. My mother had never left Syria and didn’t even have a passport.
"We travelled a long and difficult journey to Lebanon to reach a place of safety. We travelled by bus and walked a very long way with bombing going on around us. Once we reached Lebanon, we managed to rent a house and settle for a few years until we came to live in the UK.
"I can remember my journey to the UK so well even though I was only a small child. When we arrived, it was very cold and snowy, so we all needed coats to keep us warm.
"Shaftesbury has become our special home since we arrived, we love to live in the countryside, and it feels just like our village in Syria. I now have a younger brother and we are all settled into school and nursery. I recently received an award from my school, I love to learn, and I know I am working for my future. I feel safe here in the UK, it is fair, we have equality and rights.
"I am involved in the youth council and town improvement group and go to Taekwondo every week. I listen to K POP, and I like Anime art. I still listen to Arabic music and watch tv shows.
"Some things still feel strange - my English is good, but it still feels strange to read from left to right and I’m not a fan of the weather sometimes. It can be difficult to find halal food too, but I am good at checking the labels for mum and to make sure I can buy sweets!
"When I am older, I hope to go to university and learn to drive like mum, but I don’t think I will ever want to leave home, being together as a family is very important. I might have to take them to university with me!
"If I had one other wish for the future it would be for the war to end and for my family to come back together."
Danya’s story.
On the day my Mum said I should never look back, I did. So I saw what I should never have seen as a 12 years old kid
When they took away everything I belonged to, just to break it down into nightmares of screams and blood, I always wondered, ‘How would they feel seeing me crawling away from under the debris I used to call home, hugging Ted, crying aloud from fear and hunger?’
When I finally left my home, our neighbours, the people I called family, didn't understand what it meant, that it was final. So I left them behind in the street.
I had my family torn away: my Mum torn away, my Dad torn away, just my siblings and I in places we didn't belong to. We had to say goodbye to each other in order to protect each other's lives.
I still remember how cold and dirty the school we slept in was. Back then, I couldn't realise how awful the world could be, I was just a child trying to know when I could finally go to school or eat more than just bread.
"Are we still in danger? Are we over it now?", that's what I kept asking on that road, as we rode a truck with over a hundred people, under the rockets and shells, holding on our backs our sorrow and fear. May we one day find a place when we can finally sleep.
Danya
Samar’s Story.
My name is Samar Hammoud. I am from Syria and I was born in Damascus. My husband is Ammar and I have three children, the youngest of them was born in the UK.
My first languages are Arabic and also Aramaic, the language of The Bible. I have been learning English since I came to Shaftesbury.
When I was 12 I wanted to be a lawyer and I did not expect to ever leave Syria. I left Syria in 2013 because of the war and went to Lebanon. Lebanon was very hard and we struggled, sometimes living in a car and selling my wedding jewellery to get by. I left Lebanon at the end of 2017 and came to the United Kingdom.
I left Syria because I did not want my children to experience war. I wanted them to have a good life and future and for them to be safe. My husband, Ammar was also very unwell and we were concerned for his health. We cannot return there and be safe.
I now live in Shaftesbury where we feel safe, welcome and at home.
Samar
Imad’s story.
…….. the bombing was violent …….. from sunset until dawn ……..
Whenever we heard a missile coming in we could do nothing but hide behind the walls knowing that, if these same walls were hit, we would die underneath them.
When the bombardment intensified the electricity was cut off and with it the water, with no electricity to draw it. Away from the range of the shells, Bayan prepared coffee in the bathroom, using portable gas.
Shortly after midnight, due to the pressure and constant fear our son Louay fell to tiredness. Bayan carried him into the inner room and put him in one of the corners, and covered him with care.
‘Praise be to God! Praise be to God!’ she said, upon leaving the room. ‘But why?’ I asked her with amazement. She replied, ‘Louay has slept, Praise be to God, When the shells hit us and we die: Louay will not feel pain!’
I felt the silence that followed, it lasted for years.
This all happened on April 13 2013, that is, 7 years ago on the day I wrote this. I will never forget that night, no matter how long I live, not because it was tough, we were exposed to things harsher and much more severe than this, but because my wife said it then, and now, at the same time, after seven years, ‘Praise be to God!’
Imad
The Sada Project led by Amna
The Sada Project gives voice and expression to the experiences of refugees. It tells 6 stories following the steps taken by refugees displaced by conflict and seeking a sanctuary.
Visit the project here and scroll down for the 6 stories.
“I heard about the Ukraine and it broke my heart to see what was happening there.
It had happened in Syria.
Why? Why would you destroy lives, families, futures?
How can I help the people from Ukraine?”
Ammar