Running a grocery store, Shakir Al Zammar Tillavi Abu Shahab hopes to go back to Syria if the civil war come to an end by the end of winter.
Shakir Al Zammar Tillavi Abu Shahab: I am from Muarra town of Aleppo in Syria. I am 55 years old. I have 4 children. I run a grocery store.
ORSAM: Could you tell us about your life before the civil war in Syria, what you went through during the civil war and the reasons why you came to Turkey?
Shakir Al Zammar Tillavi Abu Shahab: I came from Idlib to Reyhanlı six months ago. My married son was injured during the civil war. He cannot work due to his injuries. His 3 children and my 3 children live in a house with no heater. We can barely pay the rent of the house we live in. I work in fields, harvest olives, plant onion, and work as porter. Sometimes we cannot find a hot plate of food or even bread. Money I earn is by no means enough for all of us. I had some saving while coming from Syria. I am about to run out of it as well. Children who are not fed enough and cannot find a warm house will become miserable during the winter. In our country, the poor are left for hunger and misery. Nobody provide food, coal, gas aid for anyone. My house in Syria was bombed. My grocery store was plundered. I have no property, assets now. I had never worked under hard conditions, but here I have to.
As Syrians, we do not have mercy on each other. We hear that some benevolent people send various food products, blankets and heater to Reyhanlı. Many Syrians received them, but many families like us did not even hear about these aids. Families like us suffered due to the random distribution of aids. If distributors had checked each neighborhood and houses and detected poor Syrians, I could have benefited from those aids as well. Everyone helps to those from their own village. Sometimes, even those who are not in need might benefit from those aids.
Our neighbors provided us with some clothes. Sometimes people give us fruit and vegetable that remain left at the end of the open market in the neighborhood. However, I can barely pay the monthly rent, gas and electricity bills. I hope the civil war ends and we can go back to our country by the end of winter.
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar in Reyhanlı district of Hatay, on 27 December 2012.
