Lelun Afrin
When I recall my past memories in Afrin, I feel a great pain filling my heart, so that, I am not able to reveal the details of my previous life. Our life was really beautiful! I was with my children and my husband, we lived a stable life, and our financial conditions were very good. My husband was a merchant and owned a large clothing store on Villas Street in Afrin city, and our affairs were going well until the curse befell us!
January 20, 2018 – the black date that will never leave my memory. At that time, I was visiting my parents’ house with my children, and during lunch time, we heard a sound that shook the house strongly, so we ran away to the back room, we felt so scared and we cried. Then my brother, Ahmed, went outside the house to investigate the source of the sound, as it was a Turkish air raid on our area.
Since that day, a state of complete fear and panic has gripped me and my children. They were very difficult days. day after day, my condition deteriorated due to fear and convulsions due to the sounds of shelling and hearing news of casualties as a result of indiscriminate shelling, who were being transferred to Afrin Hospital opposite my balcony, which overlooked the city’s main street, “Rajo Street”. In 3rd March 2018, my husband decided to send us to the town of Ahras in the Shahba region, hoping that calm would soon prevail in the city and we would return. We only took two bags of baby clothes and a small bag for my important personal items and clothes that I will wear there. while my husband stayed there to keep his work and manage the staff in his own clothing and shoe store “LC WAIKIKI”.
Several days later, the security situation in the city deteriorated further, and my husband and his family were trapped in a siege. I was with my children and five families in one room, and we suffered a lot in terms of food and drink. We were glad to have a shower room and a little more room to sleep.
In 16th March 2018, my husband and my family were able to get out of Afrin, passing through Jabal al-Ahlam, where they took two days on the road until they reached us.
At that time, my husband suffered a heavy commercial loss, because he could not take out any item or merchandise from his commercial store. the armed factions after entering Afrin, seized his store and all his warehouses and stole all his goods. Its losses were estimated at approximately 200,000 two hundred thousand US dollars. The factions accused him of dealing with the Autonomous Administration in order to allow the theft of his goods.
When my husband arrived in the Shahba region, he came to the town of “Ahras”, hoping that we would return to our homes in the coming days, until it became weeks, months and years. We settled there, facing many hardships, and my husband was also exposed to health problems due to the shock and psychological pressure that led to die two years ago from now (i.e. in 2021).
Speaking of what I went through during that difficult period, I can hardly believe how I overcame those difficulties to remain a strong mother who raises her children and meets all their needs despite the difficult situation.
I am now a widow and a mother of three children. I am suffering from many difficulties in order to secure a living for my family and to reassure them. The area in which I live is being bombed from time to time by the armed factions affiliated with Turkey.
I have no place to go, and life is very difficult in other Syrian regions. Here, at least, we can manage with the aid that is provided to us every month. This is something I never imagined would happen. My life now is completely different from what it was before in Afrin. She changed a lot and turned upside down.