2011: Daraa, Syria
Shadi: I lived in the province of Daraa, but most of my studies were in Damascus. My house in Daraa was my own. I had my own garden. [It] was close to my family and my friends.
When I finished my studies in Damascus and went back to Daraa, there were a lot of bizarre and frightening events going on. It was becoming a daily occurrence that the military airplanes would drop explosive barrels which made no distinction between militants or children or women.
Death and destruction were everywhere.
2012: Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan
Shadi: There were no services at all, no infrastructure, no electricity, and you had to walk for several miles to get water. The sanitation situation was terrible. It was a very inhumane situation.
2015: Sandman Inn, Downtown Vancouver
Saja: We definitely felt very happy to arrive [in Vancouver], but we also felt a bit nervous, because it’s a new country that is very different from what we’re used to.
2016: An apartment of their own in Coquitlam
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