Syrian students find an unlikely home, and hope, in Mexico
| AGUASCALIENTES, MEXICO
Renas Farid Alahmed is poking around his rundown, shared kitchen on a recent afternoon, trying to plan the first lunch he鈥檚 ever cooked for guests. 聽
鈥淭he kitchen is the one room in my family鈥檚 home in Damascus I can鈥檛 even picture anymore,鈥� says Mr. Alahmed, who fled Syria seven years ago, as the war between President Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups was heating up. He鈥檇 just graduated from high school, and his family was concerned he could be in danger after participating in anti-government protests.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not only me. It鈥檚 very strange to find a man doing anything in the kitchen in Syria,鈥� he says.
Why We Wrote This
Disorienting as migration may be, most newcomers to Europe can count on finding peers who share their language, faith, and traditions. Largely isolated from their countrymen, a small group of Syrian students in Mexico are striving to build community. Part of an occasional series on Finding "Home."
Learning to lend a hand in the kitchen is one of many adjustments Alahmed is making here in Aguascalientes, the central state in Mexico, where he arrived eight months ago.聽
He鈥檚 one of 14 Syrians brought to Mexico through since 2015. The nongovernmental organization offers academic scholarships and living expenses for promising students whose education was interrupted due to the conflict in Syria. The program鈥檚 leaders say they hope the students can use their degrees to help rebuild Syria after the conflict ends.
But first, Alahmed and his peers must learn Spanish, adapt to a new culture, and figure out how to make Mexico home.
It鈥檚 a familiar process for anyone who鈥檚 uprooted his or her life and tried to start anew in a foreign land, like the nearly 5.6 million Syrians who have fled their country since 2011. But the process of fitting in and feeling at home is often invisible to those not experiencing it firsthand. And unlike Lebanon or Germany, where large numbers of Syrian refugees have settled, in Mexico the community of Syrian refugees is largely limited to these students. Their isolation from other Syrians hasn鈥檛 dampened their dedication to creating a new life in Mexico filled with evidence of their hopes for the future: safety, family, a career, belonging.
鈥淵es, Mexico is different: the culture, the religion, the community,鈥� Alahmed says, as he tries to shoo a three-legged cat out of the kitchen in three languages. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 also the same. The humanity is one.鈥澛�
Language breaks down walls
Alahmed walks to his Spanish grammar class at the Aguascalientes Cultural Institute and sits at a metal desk in the front row while his instructor, Leonardo Duran Siqueiros, scribbles prepositions on the chalkboard.聽
鈥淭his is going to be really boring,鈥� Mr. Siqueiros warns.聽
鈥淚t is my job to make them feel at home here,鈥� he says later. 鈥淚 take that seriously. Language breaks down walls. My class is about grammar, but it鈥檚 all part of the bigger picture.鈥�
He鈥檚 learned a lot about Syria and the experience of displacement from his students, he says. After fleeing Damascus, Alahmed spent time in Lebanon, a Kurdish zone in Syria, Iraq, and Iraqi聽Kurdistan. Meanwhile, his family traveled across Turkey and Europe, seeking asylum in Germany. Last year, his mother, whom Alahmed considers his best friend, passed away. He wasn鈥檛 there to say goodbye.
鈥淚 try not to have them talk too much about their experience before coming here,鈥� Siquieros says. 鈥淚t can be really hard, especially for the students whose families are still in danger.鈥�
What he has learned surprised him. 鈥淲e share things culturally I never would have imagined,鈥� Siquieros says, citing the importance of family, warmth toward foreigners, and a love of sweets. 鈥淚 always heard negative things before working with them, like 鈥楳uslims are terrorists.鈥� It鈥檚 not so different from the stereotypes of drug traffickers and violence in Mexico.鈥�
Saving wasted potential聽
Adrian Melendez, an Aguascalientes native, founded the Habesha Project in 2014 after years of working with refugees in the Middle East and seeing firsthand the crisis of displacement and lack of opportunities.聽
鈥淪yrian people聽are so educated聽and so valuable. You realize all this potential and knowledge is being wasted in camps,鈥� Mr. Melendez said in a 2015 interview with 海角大神. 鈥淚 realized Mexico can do something.鈥澛�
Habesha has arranged to place 24 students at eight universities, a goal they are working toward. Funding comes from international NGOs, online campaigns, and individual donors.聽
For the first nine months in Mexico, students live here, in Aguascalientes. They take classes in Mexican history and culture, study Spanish, and home in on what they鈥檇 like to study the following year. Alahmed will study international relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.聽
鈥業 tell them to call me their Mexican mother鈥�
Alahmed says integrating into Mexican culture has been relatively easy for him, but he鈥檚 still learning the language and cultural norms.聽
Spanish is Alahmed鈥檚 fifth language, along with Arabic and two Kurdish dialects.聽
鈥淪ometimes I don鈥檛 know what language I鈥檓 thinking in, let along talking,鈥� he says.
鈥淲hat if I鈥檓 invited to a party and they offer me something to drink? I don鈥檛 drink alcohol, but I don鈥檛 want to bring them shame,鈥� he says.
鈥淲hen I arrived here and girls kissed me [hello on the cheek], I said, 鈥極h my God, what is going on here?鈥� 鈥� he recalls, laughing. When a friend explained the greeting custom here, 鈥淚 thought, 鈥極K, I like it!鈥� 鈥� Alahmed says, noting that you鈥檇 never see that in Syria.
Family and old friends are what he misses the most.
鈥淚 have a lot of friends in Syria,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 am always looking for them. I don鈥檛 know if they鈥檙e alive, or in jail, or killed. I don鈥檛 know anything about them.鈥�
He talks with his dad and three sisters on video chat every morning. Two of his sisters have daughters now. They鈥檙e building lives in Germany, a country he鈥檚 never known. Missing milestones weighs on him.
That鈥檚 where local pharmacy-owner Claudia Mora comes in. When Alahmed turned 25 a few months ago, she showed up at the Habesha offices with a pi帽ata and cake. It鈥檚 something she does for all the students, along with inviting them to weekend barbecues and offering to provide furniture and supplies.
Neighbors tell her she鈥檚 playing with fire, inviting Muslims into her family鈥檚 life.聽
鈥淭his is their home now too,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 want them to feel a part of the family. It鈥檚 something very Mexican. You feel love, you see someone who needs love, and you give them that love.鈥�
鈥淚 tell them to call me their Mexican mother.鈥�
鈥楳exico has opened my mind鈥�
Alahmed enters a convenience store near the Habesha offices to shop for the lunch he will prepare for other students and office staff. He鈥檚 decided on spaghetti.聽
Back in the kitchen, Alahmed boils water for the pasta and chops an onion. It takes him almost 2-1/2 hours to finish cooking.
The group slurps up the pasta and soaks up the sauce with bread rolls, while Alahmed looks on proudly.
鈥淢exico has helped me understand, it鈥檚 opened my mind,鈥� Alahmed says later that afternoon. 鈥淓very country feels like they鈥檙e the best. Better than other people. But they are wrong.聽
鈥淲hen you travel, when you meet people, they teach you about other cultures and you expand your perspective. You can understand other people. You can understand the world.鈥�
