How Syrian Refugees are Reconnecting With Their Roots

Video Editor: Sandeep Suman

Syrian refugee and artist Mohammed Hassan Ibrahim is on a mission to inject some colour in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan and make it a more attractive place for its residents.

Hassan Ibrahim arrived at the camp four years ago and decided to brighten the place up. He wanted to change people's impression of the camp.

"There are people who think that the camps are only about hunger and thirst, but no, we want to prove that we exist and we want to live, we want to live in peace," he explains.

Azraq camp is located located 100 kilometres (62 miles) east of the Jordanian capital Amman. Along with decorating buildings, refugees paint on canvases and occasionally organise events to sell their work. The art initiative is supported by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, which believes in its psychological benefits.

"It's very important that the refugees themselves are given the opportunity to express their feelings," says Emmanuel Kenyi, from UNHCR.

The camp has been open since April 2014 and it is now home to more than 36,000 Syrian refugees who live in 8,823 shelters.

While Mohammed Hassan Ibrahim is busy adding some colour to the camp in Jordan, another Syrian refugee, Malakeh Jazmati is preparing food for a Syrian brunch at Refugio Cafe in Berlin.

She wants to bring the flavours of her homeland to Germany. "A lot of people, they think we only have hummus and falafel," she says.

She was once a TV presenter and hosted a popular cooking show, discussing Arabic culture and politics with celebrity guests.

But life has changed a lot for the former television star, after living in Jordan, Jazmati travelled to Germany with her husband where they live at Refugio which was set up in 2015.

It's found in the capital's vibrant borough of Neukoelln, an area popular with Berlin's migrant population. The cafe is home to people from different nationalities.

Mohammad Al Ghamian, Jazmati's husband's, says the cafe is about "sharing home with people from different cultures".

The inhabitants live, socialise and run enterprising projects together - like the cafe, which Jazmati and her husband now use to host the Syrian brunch.

The couple began a catering service called Levante Gourmet when they arrived in Berlin. They were regularly asked if they had a restaurant which sparked the idea for the weekly brunch. At their first meal a year ago, more than 150 people showed up to try the traditional cuisine.

Each week the menu changes, allowing patrons to try various Syrian dishes.

In the future, Jazmati and her husband hope to open a restaurant serving traditional Syrian cuisine all day.

The TV star-turned-chef hopes to give comfort of home food to homesick Syrians.

"I want them to close their eyes and (be) thinking about their mothers. I want them to think they are eating their mother's food," she says.

(With inputs from AP)

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