SU_T_34

[i] Welcome [name].
[r] Welcome.
[i] Can you introduce yourself and tell us who you are?
[r] My name is [name]. I am from Syria, from the city of Aleppo.
[i] How long have you been here in Italy?
[r] I have been here in Italy for about 9 months.
[i] Before you came to Italy, where were you? Were you in Syria?
[r] I was in Syria, of course. In the city of Aleppo.
[i] Then you came here.
[r] I came to Lebanon. You know, if you heard about the Syrian crisis, the wars that happened and the destruction. We came to Lebanon. We were blessed for a while. I have a daughter who is sick. She has kidney failure. In Lebanon, life is expensive. Life is very expensive. There is no work. God sent us to this association. They brought us here.
[i] So you came here through this association?
[r] Yes, through this association.
[i] How old is your daughter?
[r] She is 15 years old.
[i] Does she need to be transplanted?
[r] Yes, she needs to be transplanted. They brought her here to be transplanted.
[i] When you came here, where did you live? Where did they put you?
[r] I live in the house of Corso Farchelli. I have a house now. I am currently treating my daughter. Thank God.
[i] How far has your daughter’s treatment progressed?
[r] This is her treatment until now. On Thursdays and Tuesdays. On Thursdays and Tuesdays, I mean on Fridays and Tuesdays, she is being flushed. She has been flushed for 7.5 months.
[i] She is being flushed twice a week?
[r] Yes, twice a week.
[r] Three times a week.
[i] Does your daughter go to school?
[r] Yes, she goes to school. But when she has to be flushed, and she is tired, when I come to her, she doesn’t want to go to school.
[i] When you came to Italy for the first time, how did you find the situation?
[r] Thank God. Italy is a beautiful European country, but we can’t get along with the weather. The language is foreign. I don’t know the foreign language. I didn’t study Arabic. I didn’t study it in Syria. It is difficult for the language here. We are trying to learn. If we learn, we can work. But we don’t feel like learning. This age…
[i] You are going to school. You are trying hard.
[r] Yes, I am trying, God willing. I have two schools, not just one. But you know how old I am.
[i] Sure. You told me that here, just for your daughter’s treatment, will you come back to your country?
[r] Yes, I will go back. Now I’ve also fallen ill they’ve discovered that I’m not well. But for my daughter, if we treat her, God will heal her, and if there is nothing in Syria, we can go back. But until now, it is impossible to live in Syria.
[i] So, you will either stay here or go back to Lebanon. Because in Syria, it is difficult to go back.
[r] In Lebanon, it is also difficult to live. In Syria, it is difficult to live. In Lebanon, it is also difficult to live. God knows. What can a person do in Lebanon? It is difficult to live. It is difficult to work.
[i] And the association that brought you here, they are looking for a job for you. What is going on?
[r] Now, at this time, they put us in this house, and we are going to school. I am trying to learn so that if we learn, we can work.
[i] So, language is an essential thing so that you can work.
[r] Yes. If we don’t learn the language, honestly, we can’t work. If you talk to someone, you can’t talk to them. This is what is difficult.
[i] In these 9 months, were you able to adapt to the European life here, to the Italian people, especially the Torino people?
[r] Yes. They are nice people, kind, and generous. It is haram for someone to speak in a beautiful way. Glory be to God, language is what is stopping us.
[i] So you can say that to be imprisoned in this country, the most important thing is the language.
[r] The language and my daughter’s treatment.
[i] Of course. When you were in Syria, what did you do?
[r] I was a painter.
[i] Yes. It means that you have an essential job.
[r] Yes, thank God.
[i] So if you get a job here, you can work in this field.
[r] Yes, I can work.
[i] You don’t mind?
[r] No, I don’t mind.
[i] In these 9 months here, how did you live the Syrian culture when you came here? For example, at home, with food, with the music you listen to, did you preserve the Syrian culture?
[r] Well, sometimes we listen, sometimes we don’t. We have to adapt to it. We have to learn it. We tend to forget it to learn it for our future work. I listen a bit, but I try to listen to Italian better and learn Italian for our work. So tomorrow, a year later, the association will definitely leave us. And if it leaves us, it’s a problem.
[i] How did it leave you?
[r] The teachers came to treat my daughter. When we left, they told us about you. The first year, they gave us money. He said, it’s normal. The second year, they stopped the expenses but they paid the rent. The third year, they didn’t pay us anything. These two years, I didn’t learn a language. I didn’t learn a language. I didn’t get a job. My daughter and I, the sick, they brought us here to treat our daughter. They are human resources for the people. They brought us here for what?
[i] It means that you came here to treat your daughter. But as you said, if you spend two years and you don’t treat your daughter and you don’t find a job, what will happen to you and your family?
[r] I don’t know. I don’t know how to answer this question.
[i] What’s the problem?
[r] I don’t know how to answer this question.
[r] I want to ask someone in the state to know what will happen to me and my daughter.
[i] They don’t tell you what will happen to you in two years?
[r] They don’t tell us.
[i] Why?
[r] They don’t say anything. They tell you that it’s important that you take care of your daughter’s treatment.
[i] You can be homeless in two years if you don’t have a financial income and a job.
[r] Of course. If I don’t have a job and I don’t have a language, how will I live? Of course I will be homeless.
[i] What about your little daughter? How does she live with her illness? How does she live here in Italy?
[r] My daughter is sick. She’s 15 years old. She wants to be like any other girl. She wants to walk, dress, have fun, and play. But she looks like this. I don’t know. I don’t know what to say about my daughter. When she goes to the hospital, she looks like someone who was taken to hell. She says, Dad, I’m tired. I’m 15 years old. I can’t drink anymore. I don’t know what to say. We’re planting, but when? Tomorrow, in a month, in a year, in two years? We don’t know.
[i] I wish her well, God willing.
[r] God willing.
[i] I’m going to ask you a question that’s a bit far from these things. I’m going to ask you, for example, about Syrian food. What is the distinctive food of Syria?
[r] Oh, about Syrian food. You have a lot of dishes that are very, very good. But if you came to the right place, if you came to the right place, the bread, the bread, and the onions, and the tomatoes, if you blessed it on the land of the country, it’s tastier than stuffed lamb.
[i] Of course.
[r] But you have dishes with tomatoes, onions, and bread, and if you blessed it on the land of Syria, it’s tastier than the stuffed lamb that we’re eating here.
[i] Of course. Do you miss Syria?
[r] Do you miss your mother and father?
[i] Of course.
[r] Syria is my mother and father. My mother and father are in Syria. I’ve been praying for seven and a half years since I left Syria. I’ve been living in Syria for 50 years. I still remember the floor of my house how many steps our house everything in my memory. How many pieces of wood are there in the ceiling?
[i] The country is still the country. The love of the country is more precious than anything else. Brother [name], do you still have family in Syria?
[r] I do, but we’re all in a different country. I have family in Sweden, Turkey, and my sister is still in Syria. I’m here. My two daughters are in Lebanon.
[i] Do you still communicate with them?
[r] Of course.
[i] How long has it been since you last saw your family?
[r] 8 years.
[i] I hope that one day you’ll see them again.
[r] God bless you.
[i] I want to ask you something. When you came here, what did you notice that was missing for the immigrants and especially for the refugees? What do you want here for the benefit of the immigrants and the refugees?
[r] I don’t know. There are some things that are missing, but I care about my family and my daughter. I want to know what’s in store for us for the next 2 years.
[i] Most importantly, we hope that you’ll soon meet your daughter and wish her well.
[r] God bless you.
[i] God bless you too. Another question.
[r] Go ahead.
[i] If your daughter had not been ill would you have left your country?
[r] No.
[i] So can we say that you were forced?
[r] Of course. We only found out in Lebanon. If I want to work, I have to pay for her medication. If I work all month, I can’t afford her medication. I used to live in Natour. Natour in Naif.
[i] Unfortunately, the war and the health conditions forced people to make decisions even if they didn’t think about it. Brother [name], thank you for being here with us. Thank you.
[r] It was an honor to meet you.
[i] Thank you.