My life began quite normally. I finished my university, after studying for six years. After my graduation, I worked in the university. I was looking for a job that matched my qualifications and experience. In 2011 I started working as an accountant. Later I was promoted. I worked in a large company near my home. I enjoyed going to work. After a while I was given more responsibility because the company realized that I could achieve more. I loved what I was doing because I felt useful. In the end everyone asked me for my opinion and I had a position where I could make decisions. From 2011-2014 I was promoted to Director and joined the Management Board. My salary increased and I gained new networks.
Parallel to this beautiful time, the revolution began and spread. I had friends from Daraa, a town in Syria. My work colleagues showed us a video of the events in Daraa on the mobile phone. The videos were cruel, they showed corpses on the street, blood was still running from their bodies. And the other side, the people of the Syrian regime were 20 meters away. The one who filmed the video was standing behind a wall while he was filming. The elders taught us that the Syrian regime was made up of criminals. We never saw them, only heard from them. When I saw the videos, it depressed me a lot and I cried. The person in the picture was full of blood, everything was full of blood. The first time I saw something like that on my cell phone. Nobody dared to get closer to them because the regime was nearby. The incident happened on 15.03.-17.03.2011.
It hurt me very much to see the people on the videos. I had the feeling that they were close to me. They were from the same city as me. When I saw the men, the children, the women, it was as if I saw someone killing my family. I cried, cried, and could not stop crying. The first Friday after the incident the people gathered in front of the mosques and shouted: “We are with Daraa, Daraa, we are with you until death!”
Storyteller’s name: Ibrahim AF
Interviewer’s name: Sarah El Desoke
Country of origin: Syrien
Sex: m
Age: 32