When I met Maila, I asked what had inspired the photograph. “I like dreaming more than reality, so I took this photo,” she responded.
Curious, I asked, “What do you dream of?”
“A lot,” Maila said. “Continuing my studies, leaving Turkey... I cannot continue high school here.”
I expressed how difficult that must be for her.
“That’s why I’m dreaming,” Maila answered.
A gentle, shy spirit, it appeared to me that Maila's dreams had managed to protect, or heal, the artistic spirit that so eloquently flowed through her photography, paintings, and poetry. Asking more about her story, I learned that her family had fled Aleppo three years ago, after her house was bombed. Her father’s three shops were also bombed, so he could no longer provide for the family. Only 15 years old when they left, Maila was in her first year at high school. She hasn't been able to continue studying since then, because of their flight, then the language barriers, and lack of educational facilities for the huge influx of refugees into Turkey, overwhelming social services.
"Three years ago, we had no humanitarian industry," explained Serhat Tok, one of the staff members at the centre where Maila studies art and music. When the Syrian war broke out, and over 3 million refugees flooded into Turkey, IMPR, the organisation he worked for, established IMPR Humanitarian, expanding from academic to practical work. They quickly established centres to help them, such as the one in Urfa. But the needs far exceed the demand.
I reached for one of Maila's drawings, depicting two broken glasses decorated with flowers, and asked Maila to translate the text she had written on it. She said, “Be a professional photographer in your life, to always capture the good side of people, from a pure lens, from the perfect angle.”
“What were you trying to portray through these broken glasses?”
“At first our life was broken, like these glasses, even in Urfa. Then, roses began to grow.”
How beautiful! This young woman, who has already experienced such devastation – the bombing of her city, her home, fleeing her country, the inability to continue school – still manages to grow roses out of the thorns in her life. She continues to see the best in people, and difficult situations. Her eye is indeed a pure lens. She manages to hold onto her dreams, and continues to reach for them, even if they seem as remote as heaven.
“Maila, I hope your dreams come true.”
“Amin,” she responded, “inshallah” (if God wills).