Interviews

Listen to the collection of tape recorded interviews with people who have benefited from the project.

The Voice of a Syrian Refugee

I was so happy in Syria. It was such a beautiful country. It was safe, our school was beautiful and I had lots of friends. I had dreams, I wanted to be a pharmacist, so I can help people and make sure they get the right treatment. My family were all very close, close in our relationship with each other and living altogether, close by. I loved this. Now it’s all gone.

My country is what I loved most about my country….

I was around 10 years old when the war started in Syria, that was when everything stopped – my family, my education, my friends, my life.. My very first scared moment was seeing my neighbours get arrested, arrested for doing nothing. They were arrested by the Government. Then a few days later, we were sitting in the living room and the electricity went off, then I heard the bombs, they were so close to us, they were dropped in my town. I was very scared. We had to go that instant, we moved to the capital of Syria as it was a safer place to be or so I was told.

When I moved, I saw the TV, there were horrific scenes of people being tortured and killed, I was still only 10, I wondered if this is what happened to my neighbours. We stayed there a little but again we had to get out as it was too dangerous because of all the bombings.

We started our journey to Lebanon by taxi, then we had to get into a van to finish the journey. I was so scared of the people around me, people seemed dangerous, I knew they could kill us if they wanted to. My mum carried my little brother, my big brother was very injured and needed medical treatment, but nothing could be done as we were running for our lives.

We stayed in various places over four years of the war and we finally managed to get a plane to turkey and then to Scotland. My brother got medical treatment on the plane at last. This was the first time we had been on a plane, I was scared.

When we arrived in Scotland, I was very scared, I was now 15 years old! It was so different than Syria. I like Edinburgh and was so happy to start school although I had not had education for 5 years I was so grateful to be back at school, when I know that many of my friends would not have been so lucky.

This is my story…

Tabarack

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The bright Egyptian sun, the Turkish Beaches and countryside trees

Identity is the valuable thing that shapes who we are, it is the thing that holds all our ideas and beliefs together, and the one thing that makes us who we are today. These are things that I was able to develop in the action for children heritage and  inclusion project and something that every young person is in the midst of doing in this very point of time. I am Maryam and I would like to talk about my experiences as a young person in society and how I was able to develop my confidence and deepen my knowledge in my heritage by working together with my peers and our dear visitors, and friends.

During my time in the inclusion Project we had a few weeks where we where able to express our emotions for our countries in poems that each young girl had written herself. We where given the chance to write about something that was personal and beautiful to us that we described them in entrancing memories and wishful thoughts. We wrote about the bright Egyptian sun, the Turkish Beaches and countryside trees.

We had went to the national gallery and met the other girls from the different school in Edinburgh. This gave us time to socialise with young girls our age, and young girls who have the ability to succeed. We drew images and and discussed strong female role models that young girls like us can look up to, and aim to be as successful as them. And to understand the importance of having and identity, and something that we would always want to work hard to get. Socialising with young girls like us seeing their glowing faces showed me how far we have yet to go and close we are to getting their. Seeing hopes in the eyes of young people inspired me to be a creator and move forward.

In the Inclusion group we started to discover who we are and our identities by bringing our most prized possessions photos, images and passports, to trace the history of who we are and where we come from. This allowed us to feel a sense of pride and happiness, which society and media doesn’t allow them to do. It helped us develop our on perspective on life to see how our families have lived, by comparing our lives and theirs. And finding out that there really isn’t a huge difference between all of us.

In the Inclusion project I felt safe, I was able to express my views and emotions freely without fear, and knowing that I will be respected by my peers. To be able to find someone who will listen and understand and value what I say mattered to me. During my time in the Inclusion project I have come realise that my voice was being heard, and that I wasn’t being used as a token for organisations to preach non-existing unity. I found that my abilities where recognised and sought after for development.

All I can say is, is that young people need to know their capabilities and have the ambition and ability to exceed their own expectations. Each young person has the power to change the world if the time and care was invested in that young person. But how will we know our skills and strengths if they aren’t discovered? How will we aim for higher when some of us have nothing to aim to? We need to make the effort our society to help young people excel for, the youth of today are the future of tomorrow.

By Maryam