Assalamu aleykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatu!
Dear sisters,
I never imagined that my life could change so completely. I grew up in Europe in a financially comfortable family.
My father was a successful businessman, and we lived a stable and comfortable life. I studied, travelled with my family, and visited different countries. Airports, hotels, beautiful homes, and comfortable living were simply part of my everyday life.I never had to think about water when I turned on a tap.I never worried about electricity. And I had never imagined that one day I would be afraid of the rain because I would not know whether the roof above my children would protect them. Life was very different then.
But as the years passed, something began to change within our family. We wanted to live our faith more fully and to build a life where we could practise Islam openly and according to our values.Then we began hearing more and more about Syria. We heard about families who had lost their homes, children who needed food and medicine, and people living through circumstances that were almost impossible to imagine from the safety of Europe. At first, we thought we could help from a distance. We could donate money. We could send supplies. We could support people through organisations. But eventually, we felt that it was not enough.
I remember asking myself: How can I sit safely in my home and continue living a comfortable life while another mother does not know what she will feed her children tomorrow? The decision to leave was not easy. We were leaving behind comfort, stability, education, travel, and a life we knew well. But we decided to come to Syria. We did not come expecting hardship. We came believing that we could help people, that the resources we had could ease at least some of their suffering.
When we arrived, everything became real. Syria was no longer something we saw on a distant screen. There were real children in front of us. Real mothers. Real families who had lost almost everything. We began helping however we could. We used our own money, bought food and essential supplies, and supported families who were struggling. Whenever we saw a need, we tried to respond. At first, I felt that we were doing exactly what we had come to do.
I did not regret leaving Europe. I believed that a person is not measured by what they possess, but by what they are willing to give to others. But life does not always follow the path we imagine. As time passed, circumstances changed. What we thought would be temporary became our reality.
And instead of returning to Europe—to the home, comfort, and life I had always known—I found myself somewhere I never imagined I would be. In a camp. That was where another chapter of my life began. A life that was once lived in a comfortable home in Europe had become life inside a tent. Travelling between countries had become waiting for limited water.Electricity, which had once been something I never thought about, became something we had to wait for.And the stable childhood I once imagined for my children became a daily struggle to provide them with the most basic necessities.
I never knew, when I left Europe, that my life would eventually look like this. But I know one thing: I did not come to Syria looking for suffering. I came because I heard that people were suffering and needed someone to stand beside them.
Today, living in this camp with my two children, I sometimes remember my old life and it feels as though I am remembering another woman. I lost much of the comfort I once knew. But I cannot say that I regret everything.I have seen things that changed my understanding of humanity, generosity, and patience.
And then began another journey altogether— the journey of a mother trying to protect her two children inside a tent, through heat and cold, storms, limited water, uncertainty, and fear.
0 Comments