As I walked into the Central United Reformed Church, I was greeted by one of the conversation club's organisers; a friendly greying man who, to my surprise remembered me from last week. He handed me a cup of coffee and encouraged me to join a table of refugees. "Just do what you did last time" he said and assured me that they are keen to improve their English and socialise with new volunteers.
I sat next to a man I spoke to last week. He is in his early 40s and has dark thinning hair speckled with grey. Although he won’t give me his name and refused to be videoed or recorded, he agreed to be interviewed.
He told me he is from Daraa, a city in the south of Syria on the Lebanese border. I could tell from his good English that he was educated and was surprised when he told me he was a trained paediatrician.
He described his journey across eleven countries, from Syria to England, as the longest journey of his life. "It was a miserable journey. It gets more and more difficult to describe."
"It was a miserable journey. It gets more and more difficult to describe."
It was clear that the man I was interviewing was finding it hard to find the right words. This was not due to his lack of English; it was because the scenes he had witnessed were simply indescribable.
He referred to his journey from one country to another as "bad dealings" and described the police as “ugly, not friendly and not human.” Without going into detail, he told me about the lack of sanitation and dirty conditions he had encountered along the way. Despite his lack of words, these descriptions confirmed what I already knew about the mistreatment of refugees travelling from destruction to safety.
He told me that seeing the families and children on route reminded him of his own family back in Darra. Leaving Syria meant leaving his father, mother, wife and two young sons behind. “The journey is too difficult for them” he explained, “I wish to move my family from my country to here.” He said he hopes to earn enough money to pay for them to join him in England but when I ask how long he thinks that will be, he shrugs and shakes his head.
He admitted that at the beginning, he had no idea where his final destination would be. In Germany, he heard the news that Angela Merkel has begun to cap refugee intake, this would make it even more difficult for refugee families to reunite in safety. This "bad news" was a turning point in his plan and confirmed that England was his destination.
Throughout the conversation, my interviewee was friendly but reserved. When talk moved to life in Syria before the revolution however, his mood picked up and he began to tell me how much he loves his country.
"Syria is like a heart of the body for me and for anyone who has ever lived there."
He told me that his home country is the heart of the three continents and that Syrians are the friendliest people in the world. He described the weather as perfect whatever the season; not too cold in winter but also not too warm in summer. I was told that Syria use to have 15 large cities but all that remains now are bricks and dust. He called these once bustling places “dead cities.”
“Everything was so beautiful before the revolution. I love the earth, the water of Syria.”
"Syria is like a heart of the body for me and for anyone who has ever lived there."
One day the hospital he worked in was bombed. He described a scene of splattered body parts; "head here, arm here, leg here" he said while waving his hands left to right. He said his colleague fainted and fell onto the floor which was strewn with severed body parts. “In that moment, I only saw the dust” he said.
He told me how much he missed his wife and sons. At this point tears began to well up in his eyes. I had to stop the same happening to myself, I realised I had no right to cry about his situation. When I asked what else he missed he shook his head and said he couldn't repeat the answer.
I change the subject and asked about the future of his country. “I am optimistic about Syria” he said, changing his tone. “I need everyone to return to himself and look at the mirror and see their soul and everything will be OK.” Surprised by his optimism I ask how he has kept his faith after all of this destruction. His response was a philosophical one: “humanity is crawling. If we do the correct things, we can stand up and all walk.”
"Humanity is crawling. If we do the correct things, we can stand up and all walk."
Conversation Club was set up in 2012 in partnership with STAR (Student Action for Refugees) and Sheffield Asylum Team. It provides a drop in centre for refugees and asylum seekers to help improve their English and give them the opportunity to socialise with others.
Sessions:
Wednesdays - 2.00-4.00pm, Victoria Hall (in partnership with ASSIST)
Fridays - 1.00-4.00pm, Central United Reformed Church
