Since I moved to Armenia in July of last year, the ongoing war in Syria has become a major part of my life. In Yerevan, I had many Syrian-Armenian friends who had been forced to flee the fighting back in their home country. These people had been lucky enough to be of Armenian descent, and so their ancestral homeland opened its doors, allowing people a safe place to go as their country of birth waged war with itself.
Following my time in Armenia, I spent three months living in Lebanon. The population of this tiny country, sandwiched between Syria and Israel on the shores of the Mediterranean, has had its resources severely stretched, as their population jumped by almost half a million – more than 10% in less than two years because of Syrians coming to their neighbouring land to seek refuge. Whilst I was there, I saw the effects of that – people packed into tiny apartments, refugee camps by the side of the road, Syrian children shining shoes on the street, and job opportunities limited. It was a sad state of affairs.
From my present location in Canada, I’ve been following the situation online closely. It is sad to see a country of such history imploding, and I hope the situation will improve soon, and one day I hope to step on peaceful Syrian soil. Victoria and her family, who I had to leave behind in Lebanon, have spent the past five months living nomadically in Beirut, staying with anyone that can host them, trying to get their lives back on track in a new land, and hustling to have enough money to survive. It’s been an extremely challenging year for all of them.
One of the main challenges for the family has been having an income to get set up again. They haven’t had the finances to rent an apartment, and live together again. They are living separately around the city, and go days or even weeks without seeing each other. Recently, Victoria has taken to the internet in search of help, and – thus far – the results have been promising. Crowdfunding, where a person sets up a cause to donate to (be it a charity, a project, a film, absolutely anything really) has become a popular means of raising funds over recent months. It’s something my brother, Tom, used to publish the book of his documentary film, Janapar, a while ago. Now, Victoria has done the same. I’ve been helping her promote her campaign, and was hoping that readers of this blog would be able to take the time to share her campaign (or this blog post) to help raise awareness, and make a small donation too. Even just $10 – the cost of a couple of beers, a T-Shirt, coffees for a few friends, a lunch – these would make all the difference. It all adds up, and a small amount of money here will go a lot further there. It isn’t a lot, and we wouldn’t miss it realistically.
The site, hosted on GoFundMe, is located here. Having lived through so much with Victoria and her family already during the past months of their lives, been there for good times and bad, and tried to help as best I can, I know their need for help is genuine, and any donations will be greatly appreciated. With this money, the family can start to get their lives back on track – the first step being able rent a place of their own. Just being a family again will be a start, and after that, the rest of the rebuilding can begin.
