Sarah's story
Sarah is a pretty normal 16 year-old. She’s got the usual interests: pop music, boys and her mobile phone.
But, together with 30 million children and young people around the world she’s a refugee. Sarah lives in a camp with her family after running away the civil war in Syria. This is her story, in her own words.
One night the bombs were coming closer and closer. We were all sitting together downstairs because we couldn’t sleep. The bombs destroyed the houses one by one in our village, neighbours were running from one house to the next.
A rocket landed on the roof of our house, but no one was injured. We ran to another house. We were so terrified we didn’t even think about taking anything with us. Soon after, our house was totally destroyed. We didn't have anything anymore: no IDs, nothing. Luckily my dad had his money and bankcard in his pocket.
Our dad paid a smuggler to take us out of the country. We escaped that night in a rented car. Whenever we passed a checkpoint, we hid under the seats of the car and the driver covered us up.
We got out of the car near the border and had to walk about 100 metres across the mountain. When we heard a plane, we started running. We were very scared.
When we arrived at the refugee camp, there were already many tents. We bought some materials to make a tent - some wood and plastic. The men built it. Our tent has two rooms and a kitchen area. There are 13 of us living here.
THE CAMP: LIFE ON HOLD
The neighbours helped us by giving us things like bottled water, mattresses, blankets, cups and plates. My only treasured thing is my necklace. I wear it all the time, because it has many memories. It was a present from a boyfriend, but I don’t want my mother to know about that!
We need so many things that you can’t count them. At home things were cheap. Everything is expensive here. We even have to pay for water. At home we had our own bedrooms, but here we all sleep together in the tent on the ground.
We can’t go to school here, and there are no jobs because too many people are looking for work. We don’t even have any books. So we just help out with cooking and cleaning, or watch TV all day. We are really bored.
To pass the time we do each other’s hair and draw pictures of each other, or listen to popular songs on the TV. We also make our own clothes.
We are afraid because the government could send us back.
HOMESICK
We hear from home mostly via Whatsapp and sometimes TV. Only a few old people are still living in our village. There are a few rooms still standing in the destroyed houses, and they live there.
We have to pay for water which a truck brings in, but it’s very dirty. But now we have a water filter in our tent. And we have a latrine. We get food, so we aren't hungry. We make many simple meals that we can share with all the children, like rice, beans and peas. There are shops, hairdressers and tailors here.
My mum and dad had good jobs in Syria: my dad was a dentist and my mum was a secretary.
It helps to know that we are not alone, as there are many others here in the same situation as us.
We’ve been here for three years now. We miss everything about home. We would love to go back.
ASSIGNMENT:
Imagine you live in an area where you might have to leave instantly at any moment. You get one small backpack that you can fill with things to take with you. Make a list of things that you would take.
The backpack is the same seize as your school backpack. So think carefully about what you put into it.
