“I’m 82 years old and I have written 52 books. I’m currently working on my last book. I never decided to become a writer, it was just something I needed to do in order to express myself. I’ve sold over a 100.000 copies but selling books was never on my mind. Even if no one would be interested in my work, I would still have written those 52 books.”

(4/5)“When I arrived from Syria to Turkey my friends and I started to look for a smuggler who could get us to Greece. Getting in touch with a smuggler was very strange. None of us had ever spoken to a criminal. Finally, we found someone and each of us paid 1200 Euro to get on a rubber boat. We were 41 people and the smugglers put us into a small van. Each of us had to stand on one foot in order to fit in. It was so scary. After two hours we arrived at a forest. We spent the night there. The next day the sea was smooth so we were really lucky. We could see Greece right in front of us. A few kilometers before we entered Greek waters, we got pulled aside by the Turkish Coast guard. They told us to return. We negotiated with them for thirty minutes. Then they let us go but they took all our fuel so we couldn’t get forward. I took my phone and called Greek coastguard. They told us that as long as we were still in Turkish waters there was nothing they could do for us. I looked on Google Maps and saw that we had about one kilometer to go. I told the whole group that there were only 300 meters left so they would not get discouraged. We tried to peddle forward but we barely advanced. We had no water left and everyone started to lose hope. Then all of a sudden my friend came up with the idea to fill the fuel tank with a big bottle of aftershave that he carried in his backpack. I thought he was crazy but we tried it and it worked. It felt like a miracle had happened. We reached the Greek border and the coast guard came and helped us out.”

(3/5)“Even though I couldn’t attend a university I decided to stay in Turkey and look for a job. I didn’t know a word of Turkish so I started learning Turkish from Youtube. After I had mastered a few words I applied for some simple jobs. I got hired in a small restaurant. I worked 12 to 14 hours a day and I would make about 20 Turkish Lira a day. After one month my Turkish had improved so I tried to find a better job. I changed jobs many times but after four months it dawned on me that I wasn’t getting back to my education. I heard that my University back in Aleppo had opened again so I decided to return. Going back to Syria meant going back to a war but I was determined to graduate one way or the other. In the final semester I started to make an escape plan. In Syria you have to join the army when you are no longer a student. I applied for three different universities and scholarship’s. One in Japan, one in Germany and the last one in the United states. I made three escape scenarios and I was putting all my energy into it, hoping at least one would work. One day I received a letter that I got accepted into the university of Texas with a full scholarship.

I was so happy and excited. In order to get a visa, I had to return to the American Embassy in Istanbul. That was the second time I left Syria. When I got to the appointment for my visa the lady interrupted me after five minutes. She left and came back with a paper. The letter which was written in Arabic said that I didn’t meet the requirements of a visa since I had no Turkish permit. Meanwhile I had just been informed that I failed one of my exams. Again I had to go back to Syria. I passed the last exam and finally I graduated. Now that I had my diploma I needed to leave the country as soon as possible. This time my family came along. It was the last time I would leave Syria. When we arrived in Turkey I knew that if I wanted to continue studying could not stay there. I had to leave my parents behind and continue my journey to Europe.”

(2/5)“During the war in Syria we always had hope that other countries would not let us die but nothing happened. At some point we were allowed to go to Turkey or Lebanon. I wanted to go but I also knew that if I left Syria I would become a refugee and I would no longer have the possibility to study and that is why I stayed. The war continued and each time I heard a bomb drop I prayed to God that no one got hurt. One day I heard a loud explosion, it was close to my house. I looked on Facebook to see what happened and then I saw that one the University faculties got bombed. Over 80 people died. I started taking a German course to prepare myself for fleeing. A friend suggested to go with him to Turkey. For the first time in my life I left my country. It was a strange feeling but at the same time a relief. The first thing I did when we arrived in Istanbul was searching for a University. I had just finished my third year but even if they had told me to start all over again, I would have done so. Soon I discovered that none of the universities would accept me because now I was a Syrian refugee. After that I had two options left, either I was going to work and stay in Istanbul or I was going to find a job to save enough money to return back to Syria.”

(1/5)“All my life I have had one big dream and that is to become an engineer. My uncle used to fix communication systems such as phones and Walkie Talkies. Once he took a phone apart and gave it to me. I wanted to understand each part of the phone, I was completely fascinated. After finishing high school, I got accepted by the University of Aleppo to study Control Engineering. That was probably the happiest year of my life, Finally I was getting closer to pursue my dream to become an engineer. We had heard about the Arab Spring in Syria but we didn’t discus it in public. To express your opinion on politics was simply too dangerous. Then the Arab Spring came to Syria. First it started only in a few places but soon afterwards the protests were everywhere. I saw on Youtube how protestors got brutally beaten up and some were even killed. When I got to the second year of university the protests started in Aleppo where I lived. I remember that one time a group of students secretly organized a demonstration at the university. One of the protesters was caught by three policemen and they crushed his head with sticks. That was the first time I witnessed violence. Sometimes I feel ashamed that I didn’t participate. I did want to stand up for all those people who were killed but I was too scared.

In spite of all the violence from the government people kept on protesting. By the time the school year ended our town was invaded by the Free Syrian army. That was supposed improve the situation but actually it just got worse. Soon bombs were falling all over the place. Half of the city was destroyed and many people became homeless and lost their jobs. My dad is a contractor and my mum a dentist but they were no longer able to get to their workplace so they stayed at home. Going to school was the only thing that made me feel like a normal human being. I had no social life. After school I would go home straight away so my parents wouldn’t worry. We would have three hours of electricity per day so at night we all sat together in the living room which was lit by a candle, talking and playing board games. Strangely enough that was quite cozy. There is this saying in English: “Misery loves company”. We were miserable and afraid for our lives but we did have each other.“