Sisters' Stories: ‘It was my dream to read books and write letters'
Shukriya is a 50-year-old Syrian refugee whose husband sadly passed away several years ago following an accident at work. As a single mother of two, she found life became harder and harder, especially as the conflict in her home country intensified. “The forces began attacking protesters and killing people, and then the government began forcing men and boys to join up. That’s when I decided to leave the country. I couldn’t put my son’s life in danger, as he and my daughter were all I had.”
After fleeing, life in a Kurdistan refugee camp was just as hard. “All three of us were suffering from loneliness and anxiety,” Shukriya adds. “We never left our house, and didn’t notice we were actually getting sick.”
One day, she heard her neighbours talking about the Lotus Flower’s projects. “They said the training and courses had helped them forget what had happened to them and added a little colour to their lives. So I decided to give it a shot myself. I knew I could stand on my two feet again, but I needed help to do so.”
Shukriya enrolled in our awareness sessions which she says “helped me a lot,” as well as Arabic lessons. “I knew how to speak Arabic but I could read nor write, and it was one of my biggest dreams to do so,” she says. “I wanted to be able to read books to write letters and so on - and I reached my goal at the age of 50.”
She has been attending various courses for three years now, and adds: “I will continue to do so because I love improving myself and I love the things I learn. My thanks go to the Lotus Flower for their hard work with us.”
As you can imagine, it gives us such great joy to see women like Shukriya achieve their ambitions while also beginning to heal and rebuild their lives…
Help us reach more women like Shukriya
It costs so little to support our women and girls’ literacy classes…