A reflection of my face on the screen, a pen in hand, and a blank piece of paper on my desk waiting for me to scribble down words. I look up at the time, the clock strikes 9:00, I excitedly await for Karam’s leaders to join the call. I greet them by introducing myself. I offer a safe space and a place to say “I am not comfortable answering this question.” I forget everything around me and just listen. I look down realizing I haven’t written a word because I got lost in their spoken words, and their stories that must be told. 

Aleppo, Idlib, Der Al Zour, Haska and so many other Syrian cities that these youth come from. They left behind a tumbled home, a missing father, or a martyr mother. One thing they also left behind— their broken dreams. They knew in order to survive they must fight and keep on fighting because the fight never ends. Whether they made it to Turkey by land or air, the trip was not easy. Small bodies that couldn’t understand what is happening, why they are leaving, and where they are going. Reaching a place with a language they do not recognize, leaving behind a place they once thought it was home. Identity crises and so many unanswered questions “where do I belong?” 

Talking to so many refugee youth at Karam assured me that they do not want to be identified as refugees. They are engineers, writers, entrepreneurs, journalists, and so much more. Their refugee status does not define who they are or where they can go. 

I am the storyteller at Karam. My job is to help those future leaders tell their stories, and redefine what it means to be a refugee. As a Syrian immigrant who also had to flee home, and as a writer who writes stories and poems of home, I find inspiration in those refugee youth, in everything they’ve done and are doing. From the determination to survive, to their desire to live, to dreaming big and wide and wanting to reach the horizons. 

What impresses me the most is their desire to give back to their adopted country, their communities, and to similar Syrians in their neighborhoods. From volunteering to help Syrian families, to offering classes on Youtube, to helping new Syrian refugee students navigate their ways around campus.

There are so many ways to help refugees, from supporting their journeys and future by donating, or by spreading and uplifting their stories. Those youths’ voices are important because they are the present, and they are the future. They are the better world we strive to have. So let’s celebrate them, uplift them, and show them how proud we are of them and how far they have come. To read more stories about our young leaders head to our website: https://www.karamfoundation.org/ 

To support Syrian refugees and our programs at Karam, donate at the link below 

*Support Refugees*

About the author: 

Nour Al Ghraowi is a Syrian poet and writer, born and raised in Damascus, Syria. She has received a BA in English Literature, and an MFA in poetry. As the storyteller at Karam Foundation,  she works with the communication team to implement strategies that meet organizational goals of increasing financial support. She also translates and drafts content and stories that are shared with audiences for multiple purposes including newsletters, blog posts, social media, campaigns, and events.