my journey
FROM TE HEART OF WAR TO THE LAND OF HOPE
In 2011, the war began in Syria. At that time, I was in the third grade of elementary school, a young child who knew nothing of the world except his simple studies during the day and work in the evening to support his family. I grew up in a poor, simple, loving household despite everything. My childhood was tough, but I lived it like any hopeful child. I had friends—we played together, laughed, dreamed, and filled the simple streets with the sound of joy. Despite the hardships, life was still bearable until that moment the moment everything changed. I remember the first time I saw a bombing with my own eyes. We were playing near the house when we suddenly saw something shining in the sky. It fell in the neighborhood and exploded. The ground shook, screams echoed. One of my brothers was injured, and so were children who had just been playing with us. Fear crept into our hearts, into our homes, into every corner of the place. We couldn’t sleep that night. The shelling had started, and rockets were falling on our heads, destroying everything around us, even the peace in our hearts. Life as we knew it came to a halt. No food, no water, no electricity, no transportation. I clearly remember the nights when I went out with my mother just to buy bread. We would stand in line for five or six hours in the middle of the night for a loaf to feed my younger siblings. I remember how many times the sniper aimed at us and how often I saw people killed before my eyes, screamed at, crying beside me. I would lift my head to the sky and see planes dropping explosive barrels. I watched houses collapse, and friends die one by one. They were children they were my friends… we used to play together… and now they’re gone. In 2012, we left the city. We had no other choice. My mother carried my siblings, and we traveled to another city, searching for safety. But safety wasn’t there either. We had no home. We lived in an old and ruined house, in the place where my father was once born, but it wasn’t fit to live in. I worked in car repair as a child just to earn a bit of money to buy bread or potatoes to ease our hunger. I no longer studied. There were no schools, no education. The greatest concern was survival. Then the shelling began again. We heard the sounds of rockets, screams, and death in every corner. I’d walk out and see people carrying weapons, some going off to fight, some killing and stealing. Everything around me turned bloody. Electricity disappeared, water stopped, life came to a standstill. We went to bed hungry, my siblings and I, without food, without hope. Yet despite all this, we dreamed… we dreamed that the war would stop, that life would return. But it didn’t. In 2016, after five years of hell, things got even worse. Terrorist groups entered the city. They began recruiting children aged fourteen, fifteen, sixteen. They took them, trained them to fight, promising them they were defending their country. They took my dearest friend. He believed them and went with them. Not long after, we heard he was killed. They killed him with a lie. They told him, “You’re defending your homeland,” but he never returned. I cried so much for him. We used to laugh together, go out together, play then he disappeared. A part of my heart was lost forever. In that moment, I was more afraid than ever. The place became unbearable. We could no longer endure the hunger, fear, blood, lies, and betrayal. And in 2017, I decided to leave. I left my homeland, my city, and behind me, I left my childhood, my toys, my notebooks, my friends, and my memories. I left my mother crying, my little siblings hugging me, and I didn’t know if I would ever see them again. I left Syria, but I still carry it in my heart. I left the neighborhood where joy was buried. I left the streets that once echoed with laughter. I left the people I loved, and they scattered. And here I am today, still writing
In 2017, I was sixteen years old when I decided to leave Syria. My decision was not easy; I had to leave my family and friends and flee the war and the terrorist organizations that recruit children. I had two choices: to stay and die or to flee and risk my life in search of a safe homeland.
on foot from Syria to a to Turkey, crossing the Syrian Turkish border I set out on illegally. The journey was arduous and dangerous; we walked for four days through forests and mine filled terrain. I was in a group that included men, women, children, and the elderly. We went for two days without food, drinking water from streams in the forests, and sometimes eating unknown plants to survive. Fear and cold filled our hearts, especially with children crying and mothers screaming.
MISSING MY LOVED ONES
After great suffering, I finally arrived in Istanbul, I felt a mixture of joy and fear. I was alone in a strange country and started looking for work and found a job in a bicycle factory. Life was tough, I worked thirteen hours a day and lived in a shared room with four other other people. After a while, I started to miss my family, especially my mother, who I loved and was my friend.
I continued to work for six years, mastered the Turkish language, and worked hard. But I was forced to leave work, leave the country, and immigrate again. With the increasing racism and danger for Syrians in Turkey, I decided to leave. I boarded a rubber boat in September 2023 towards Greece, with thirty other people, including women and children. The scenes I experienced when I left Syria came back. The journey across the was fraught with danger; high waves, cold weather and an engine that broke down several times. We were praying and praying to God that we would be saved. After hours of suffering, we finally reached a Greek island and I took this photo.
HUNDRED DAYS OF STRUGGLING
We were transferred to a refugee camp where we lived in harsh and inhumane conditions. We spent more than a hundred days in the camp, struggling with spoiled food, salty water and poor sanitary conditions. Life there was hell, especially for children and women. I decided that my final destination would be the Netherlands. I was attracted to the Dutch law, which states that all people are treated equally, no matter what religion, belief or language you speak, i wasted my life and suffered for seven years in Turkey and no one respected me there.
Going to the Netherlands, it was the first time I had ever taken a plane in my life and it was a day full of optimism and self-pride. When I arrived heze, starting a new life. I now live in a refugee camp in the city of Middelburg, where the Dutch government has provided us with basic assistance. Life is difficult due to the situation in the camp; there's enough privacy for people. Two people have to live in an iron container that's two meters wide and three meters long. There's no window you can open for ventilation and there's noise coming from outside and other containers. I tried tried to overcome these difficulties by participating in volunteer activities in the camp and learning new skills such as sewing. Additionally, I help out as an interpreter because I speak English, Turkish and Arabic. Helping others with translation helped me overcome my difficult psychological state and it makes me feel proud.
LEARNING DUTCH FIRST
I am now working hard on myself and I want to achieve a better future. I plan to learn Dutch first and after that, I want to join as a volunteer in a refugee support organization. I'll delve into writing about refugee life; have unbelievable stories. If I have the opportunity, I'll publish a book about my life and the lives of refugees. I also want to complete my studies because I left school when the war broke out, at eleven years old. Most importantly, I want to do to do something to compensate the Dutch government for their support, for providing care to us as refugees and for allowing us to live a life full of security and peace. Here, in this new country, I see a glimmer of hope and I feel like I can build a new life.
ABOUT THE WRITER Nanve: Ammar Dale Bsal Age: 23 Country of origin: Syria Current location: Middelburg In NL since: January 2024 sion: writer
2024
