From Syria to Suburbia – Carol’s Story
In 2011 life in Syria was good. My husband Johnny had a thriving business that provided us with a comfortable life and I loved caring for our children Joseph (9) and Wendy (5). As a family we enjoyed going out for dinner or to a movie and spending time with our friends, neighbours and large extended family. Although we lived in a predominantly Christian area of Aleppo we had good relationships with many Muslim families in our community. Our life was not perfect but it was stable and happy.
In July 2011 everything changed. We had heard the news reports of anti government protests and unrest in Deraa and Homs but we, and many of our friends, believed that the conflict would be short-lived and would not affect us. We were wrong. Over the next few months the violence increased, the streets were no longer safe and by September we had taken our children out of school to protect them from potential mortar attacks or stray bullets. My husband continued to try and run his business but it became very difficult.
One day I was hanging the washing out on the clothesline on the balcony of our apartment when I felt a bullet whizz past my face. That was the last time I went on the balcony. Another day bullets were fired into our bedroom. From then on we slept on the floor of the living room, there was no electricity, no water, it was a war zone.
One morning at 5:00am we saw vehicles with black flags driving down our street. The men inside the trucks were shooting and shouting and we realised that they were part of a Muslim extremist group. The shooting continued for almost five hours. We tried to settle the children so that they wouldn’t realise what was going on outside. I turned on the TV and put the volume up to high to try and drown out the sounds outside. It was terrifying. That day Johnny and I decided that we needed to leave Syria.
As soon as Johnny was able to get a new passport we left Syria for Lebanon. We rented an apartment in Lebanon hoping that would be able to return to our home in a few months time. We had only taken a few suitcases with us, we had no idea that that we would never see our home or many of our friends and family again. While we were in Lebanon an extremist group raided and looted my husbands place of business. He lost over a million dollars worth of stock. I thought he would be devastated by this news as he had built his business from nothing, but his main concern was the safety of our family. We decided to apply for asylum in Australia.
After an agonising 10-month wait we found out that we had been approved to resettle in Australia. We were overjoyed. To celebrate our new home our family learned the Australian national anthem, ‘Advance Australia Fair’ and read as much as we could about life in Australia. We were determined to ‘give back’ to the country that had so generously accepted us and so Johnny also researched on the Internet about volunteering opportunities in Australia. This is how we found out about the State Emergency Service (SES). We have nothing like it in Syria but we decided we would join once we moved to Australia.
We arrived in Australia on 6, November 2014. We flew into Sydney and were then driven to Woonona near Wollongong and given 28 days accommodation in a motel. During this time we looked for a home to rent, a school for our children and a job for Johnny. We had a lot to learn and knew no one in Wollongong. Three months after moving to Australia we contacted the SES. All of the people there were so friendly and inclusive. It was difficult at first to understand the Australian accent and there were a lot of jokes that we didn’t get but now we feel like a part of the SES family. Johnny and I have done a lot of training and have been part of search teams and helped in flood and storm emergencies.
At the beginning of 2016 one of our SES team leaders invited our family to attend a Family Fun Day at her church. It was unlike anything that we had experienced before. Our family background is Catholic and Armenian Orthodox. Our family had attended church in Syria but it was very formal and full of many rituals and traditions. This church was very relaxed, some people were even wearing thongs, the songs and prayers were different too and it was actually quite overwhelming. We decided that we would go back the next week and we have gone every Sunday since. Our children love being there and Johnny and I are enjoying being able to spend time with God in a way that is more personal and authentic.
We are so excited about our future. It has not been easy having to start our lives all over again; we miss our family very much. But we are so grateful to the many people who have welcomed us into this community and into their lives. Every day we are safe and together, is a gift from God.
