Category: Postcards from Syria
Postcards from Syria: Donor Update
A letter to people who donated to our fundraiser to bring Ahmed’s family to Canada, where private citizens can sponsor refugees.
Dear Donors,
Thanks to you and your generous donation, we have met our financial goal!! Ahmed and family can now apply for private Canadian sponsorship, and they are eager to leave Syria and start their new lives in peace and safety.
Postcards from Syria: Huzzah! He’s back online.
My new mantra: Do not freak out when Ahmed sends a recording of explosions then goes offline …
Folks, he’s back and I’m celebrating. And we’re both feeling surprisingly supported, too— Many friends, old and new, checked in during the black out to see if I’d heard any word. I shared with him some Facebook comments that read like a giant scroll of thoughts and prayers sent for his safety, and he said “Wow! That’s amazing. Please thank everyone for me. They are in my heart now, too.”
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Postcards from Syria: He sent this recording and then … disappeared
Postcards from Syria: This is what hope looks like
It’s one day after Ahmed told me all the things you only tell someone if you don’t think you’ll ever talk to them again.
The attacks are getting closer to his house, and are likely to continue into the foreseeable future.
Postcards from Syria: He made it through the night
Ahmed, my honorary brother trying to survive the war in Syria, made it through the attack last night.
At 2:55 am I woke after a restless sleep to see if he was online. It was almost 10:00 am in Syria. The message I sent before bed had left my phone but had not yet been received by his.
I panicked. Was the Wi-Fi signal damaged by the fighting? Or had his phone been damaged? Or… I can’t even say it.
Postcards from Syria: The Sliding Scale of Safety
Sometimes I am not strong enough to know Ahmed. If you’ve been following my posts, you know he is the guy in Syria who has become my honorary little brother and I am trying to raise money to get his family to a safe life in Canada, where private citizens can sponsor refugees.
This is not a good time for him and, by extension, me.
Friday night bullets and missiles were within 350 feet of him. Tonight he said they were closer.
Much closer.