Refugee Stories – Batoul
The war began to get closer and people we knew began to die, so we had to leave. On the 4th of August last year, we decided to come to Lebanon. The first day here was really hard. We didn’t ever expect that we would leave our home; we wish we could’ve stayed but of course we couldn’t.
My name is Batoul, I’m 19 years old. 4 brothers and 4 sisters, I am the eldest. We were comfortable in Syria, my parent’s income was really good and we were happy.
During the journey, my dad took us to Sham and we lost him on the way, no one knows what happened. That was when it became really hard, without my father. We used to get more help from the camp at the start, but now each family is given barely $13 a day. We’re a big family, how can $13 dollars a day be enough.
All our dreams are gone, my sister is 6 years old, she should be in school at this age, she should have a future, but no. It’s really heart breaking.
The situation in the camps is really bad. It’s sad that girls like me have to go to the field and work all day just to get some money to spend on their family. We had a future; I was doing my exams I had to miss my last exam because the area where my school was in Syria became too dangerous.
Even living in a camp, you have to spend money. At the end of every month, lots of people are in debt. People think about going back because they can’t afford to live here. But what are they going to go back to, death?
Watch the devastation Batoul has witnessed here.