-part 1-
Salaam aleikum va rahmatu Llah. During one’s lifetime, there are many situations that can leave a deep make on one’s soul and memories. During certain times and events of life, we are are faced with our worst fears. In psychology, these type of situations are called triggers. My daughter has such a trigger even today because of the fires she witnessed while she was in the camp with me. So, my dear readers, I will begin to tell you now a little bit more about life inside the refugee camp for women and children in Syria.
Inside the camp, the tents are placed in rows, one after the other, with a distance of approximately 1 – 1,5 meters between them. Because they are relatively close to each other, in the event of a fire, usually more tents are damaged in just an instant.
While I was in the camp, across from my tent was the tent of one of my acquaintances. The entrances of the tents were practically facing each other. On the same side with the entrance was my so-called kitchen. In that improvised kitchen, I used to keep the kerosene that I needed for cooking. I stored it in 4 tanks, each having 25 liters of fuel.
It was a calm, peaceful and quiet morning when, suddenly, a heard a scream. When a tent catches fire, it makes a very distinct sound, which creates a terrifying atmosphere. I noticed that the tent of my neighbor caught fire. The fire started to rapidly expand inside the tent, reaching its extremities. In just a few minutes, the flames where practically near my tent, as they rose 2-3 meters in the air. We started pouring water into the flames, trying to put out the fire and keep it away from my tent. My so-called home started to overheat. The air was burning as well. When the flames got even higher and the heat more intense, I remembered my kerosene tanks / barrels and I panicked. I was helped my other Muslim Sisters to quickly remove them from my improvised kitchen. We were all extremely scared. Alhamdulillah, my tent was not damaged that time. Moreover, no one was hurt in the fire. However, we did not manage to put it out and we simply had to let it burn down the tent completely. On the bright side, at least we managed to prevent it from spreading. We were all very stressed, especially my two youngest children. Later, we found out what caused to fire. Outside, near my neighbor’s tent, there were some mattresses that the children were playing on. One of the children found and brought some matches, lit them and, all of a sudden, everything started burning.
More than five years passed since this incident, but even to this day, my child reacts uncontrollably to the smell and sight of smoke. As far as I am concerned, I have recently realized that, as soon as it gets cold outside and I can see the smoke from the chimneys rising, I unconsciously check and calculate in my mind the approximate distance from the smoke to my house. The feeling of unease, anxiety or even panic is quite an unpleasant, horrible one. Rationally, you try to control yourself and not react, but subconsciously you cannot help but feeling overwhelmed.
While I was in the camp I have gone through many trials. The saddest thing is that the camp still exists, and for the past 7 years, women and children continue to live there in harsh conditions and to fight every day for a living. I call upon you, my dear readers, to invoke a Dua for all the Muslim Brothers and Sisters in captivity. May Allah free them all, easily and hastily. Ameen.
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