Ghada Ghazal during the panel discussion at the Education City yesterday. Shaival Dalal
DOHA: Ghada Ghazal is a Syrian refugee who survived the Hama massacres, and arrived one month ago in Doha. She has lived all her life under suppression, fear and oppression.
Her father was taken away by the military of the then regime. Her uncle was killed.
“We were brought up just to be silent. We were told not to talk,” said young Ghada speaking at a discussion held on Syrian refugee crisis in Doha yesterday.
“The fear is not a personal psychology but a common problem,” she said. However, Ghada was smart enough to break the barriers. She worked in her home town Hama to help the refugees in need. She, with a group of other women, collected money to help the refugees with medicine. “We had to work in a very secret way or we would have been in trouble,” she said.
Ghada and four others arrived in Doha and is now seeking a part time job to send money to her family and others in need.
“It’s difficult to live within our own country without dignity. I never wanted to leave Syria, but now have a better chance to help my family,” she said.
“There is no electricity for more than 12 hours, and we don’t have enough fuel,” she said explaining the situation in Hama. Many parents prevent their sons and daughters going out for protests due to the fear, that their children would be arrested or killed by the regime.
“It’s a common fear among parents, we can’t blame them, it is because what they have seen,” Ghada said. Her home in Hama was near a military airport, where explosions were always heard. She finds the atmosphere quiet here, but not her mind. “During nights we have beds but we can’t sleep,” says Ghada, who has even consulted a psychologist soon after her arrival here. Ghada who always wish for a better Syria than the one she grew up, however, feels that even the post-regime period in Syria is going to be tough.
“I’m against revenge. But when their brothers, fathers or children were killed, we can’t expect people to be calm,” she said. The Peninsula
