Story of peaceful and friendly people from Syria

What do you think when you hear the word refugee? A person who runs from a dangerous place? A family in a refugee camp? People who need help? That was my point of view before I met some amazing families in Jordan—now I understand that they are so much more than that.

Mahummud came to Jordan with his family in 2014. He has two brothers, a wife, great kids and a bossy mom— just like moms everywhere! In the camp he is working as an assistant of the teacher. “I was a teacher back then in Syria,” he told us when we started conversation. “We have so much in common,” were my thoughts. I have history studies and an interest in antiquities. Different? In 2012, when he learned the tragic truth about war, I literally knew nothing about life.

Now, he is a really strong person and has reached his most important goal. He had to do a lot to bring the whole family together to Jordan—to this safe place. But now what? Children are the future. His daughters have dreams. They want to be judges or doctors. Who of us didn’t dream about that when we were kids? The simple truth is that children in refugee camps have the same dreams and needs as our children in the playgrounds of the cities we live in.

Similarly friendly was the second family we met. Hamid, a poet from the Syria, his four children and his wife rent a flat in a Zarqa, 25km outside Amman . It is a humble, small apartment, a really safe place. Here, they made a friend from Damascus, Syria, and together are all trying to survive in this foreign country.

Hamid told us his poem, and the message is simple. All the families we met wanted to go home. All the families have hope that the next time we meet, it will be in better times, in Syria. “You know, Syria is beautiful,” Hamid said and I started to think what I know about this country. Unfortunately, I remembered only pictures of war shown on TV.

His biggest treasure? His children—he is so proud of them and hopes that his daughter of 16 years will one day become a cardiologist. She is one of the best students in school, I hope she will get an opportunity to continue her education.

Children and their dreams, parents proud of their kids, people who want to go back home—refugees. Syrians who have so much common with us. This is a picture which I hold in my heart back home. The story of peaceful and friendly people.