The things mothers do to ensure the safety of their children are something indescribable. The older we get, the closer we want to be to the place where we grew up, where we knew our parents, where we had our children. But what is life without the presence of those we love the most?

A single mother, along with her  24-year-old daughter and son left behind not only a home but the rest of her six children. What pushed her to leave was the harsh condition of the city she lived in; Der El Zour, and the fact that they were in a location of immediate danger. 

When left with a single daughter and a young son, there is a lot to fear: the daughter’s life, safety, and her future, and the son’s protection and the fate of his future. 

The Al-Mohamad family joined the Karam Families in October of 2018. Sina’, the daughter, left Syria while she was still in college, so her first goal was to go back to school in Turkey and get her degree. Among the many challenges she faced was the language barrier and taking the YOS exam. After lots of struggle, she ended up taking classes at a pharmaceutical Institute to become a pharmacist assistant. 

As for her son Sufian, when he came to Turkey, he was still in high school. So, he finished his education at one of the Syrian schools in Turkey where he had to commute for two hours every day. 

Through the Karam Families program, families graduate once they are able to be self-sufficient. So, in December of 2020, once Sufian was in a position to support himself and his family the Al-Mohamad family graduated from the program. 

Just recently, our Karam Family Project Coordinator Hazar ran into Sufian on one of her walks, so she asked him how he and his family were doing. He said that after high school, he picked up a delivery job while taking Turkish classes, and started applying to college. And not long ago, he got accepted to Sakarya University in Mechanical Engineering and was very excited to finally pursue his dream. 

He also added: “I am very grateful to Karam and everything they provided for me and my family. But in a way, I am glad we graduated from the program when we did because that was a motivation for me to push myself into independence. It made me start thinking about my future and the future of my family, and how I can be the best version of myself.” Then he proceeds with offering to volunteer for Karam to give back to this wonderful community that welcomes him and his family with open arms and open hearts.