Wednesday 15 December 2021 marks the 5 year anniversary of our displacement from Aleppo - the moment we were forced to leave our homes and our city.

We invited some of our friends and connections to speak with us in a series of videos for our new storytelling campaign, which talks through our personal experiences during the 7 days of displacement as we attempted to flee the city.

Voices include first responders, humanitarians, local council members, journalists and families. You can see our video series below.

Waad, Hamza, Afraa and Salem

Watch the trailer

1. WHITE HELMETS: FIRST RESPONSE

INTERVIEWEES: Bibars + Abo Faisal

In the first video of our 6-part series, “We Dared To Dream: Stories of Our Displacement from Aleppo” we speak with two members of The Syrian Civil Defence, a voluntary humanitarian organisation inside Syria also known as The White Helmets. 

Bibars and Abo Faisal speak of their experiences of volunteering to save lives in Aleppo while it was besieged, leading up to the December 2016 forced displacement of civilians from Aleppo. 

2. SCHOOLS & EDUCATION IN SYRIA

INTERVIEWEES: iman + tawfik

In the second video of our series, Afraa speaks with Iman Hashem and Tawfik Al Shater about the impact that the constant attacks on Aleppo had on education, and the impossible task of teaching children in a place where the regime was not only destroying all parts of the city, but also deliberately targeting schools. 

Watch to hear how the resourcefulness and adaptivity of these volunteers made it possible for children to receive education even in the most harrowing of circumstances.

3. Journalism and media

INTERVIEWEES: Hasan KATTAN

In the third video of our 6-part series “We Dared To Dream: Stories of Our Displacement from Aleppo” For Sama’s Waad Al-Kateab speaks with fellow journalist Hassan Kattan about the realities of reporting from besieged Aleppo, the creation of the Aleppo Media Center, and their responsibility as journalists to document the whole truth. 

Watch this episode to see them discuss being targeted for being media activists, the importance of fighting the Regime-spread disinformation, propaganda, and lies that were supported by Regime-biased local media outlets, and of having to be the ones, as journalists, to share the heartbreaking and final news about the displacement.

4. Support and advocacy

INTERVIEWEES: mAJED ABDULNUR + AHMAD PRIMO

In the fourth video of our 6-part series “We Dared To Dream: Stories of Our Displacement from Aleppo” Afraa Hashem speaks with Ahmad Primo and Majed Abdulnour about the shock of seeing the displacement from Aleppo and the roles that people outside of the city took on to provide support and attempt to ease the pain of the displaced. 

In this episode, they discuss their experience of awaiting countless convoys, of having to relay news of interrupted escape travels to loved ones, and of how people came together to help each other with the all-too familiar empathy of knowing what it is like to be displaced.

5. HEALTHCARE

interviewees: Mahmoud Zazaa, Ahmad Drash and Malakeh Hrbaliah

In the fifth video of our 6-part series “We Dared To Dream: Stories of Our Displacement from Aleppo”, Dr Hamza Al-Kateab speaks with Mahmoud Zazaa, Ahmad Drash and Malakeh Hrbaliah, healthcare professionals with whom he shared the enormous task of treating the wounded civilians of Aleppo while the city was under attack by the Syrian Regime and its allies.  

In this episode, the healthcare specialists discuss the realities of trying to save lives in Aleppo without sufficient resources, enough equipment or even adequate shelter, all while not only the entire city was under constant bombardment, but their workspaces - hospitals - were being deliberately targeted and destroyed by the regime.

6. LOCAL COUNCIL

INTERVIEWEES: Yaser + Omaar

In the final  video of our 6-part series “We Dared To Dream: Stories of Our Displacement from Aleppo” Salem Al Atrash speaks with Yaser Kor + Omaar Raai, two members of the Local Council of Aleppo, which needed to be established when the government and the relief sector failed the people of Aleppo. 

In this video, they discuss why and how they, together with fellow activists and volunteers, took the initiative to establish the Council, to provide the civilians of Aleppo with everything that could help them to survive while under attack by the Regime - from the distribution of vital provisions like flour and bread, to security and access to electricity.