Story Teller
As a survivor of one of the most horrific wars of the century, I believe that greatest strength lies within us, that the human being is the first and last value.
As a Syrian journalist (BA Damascus University) I worked on documenting the truth and making it available. I was part of documentary film “Our memory belongs to us” that tells the stories of those who lost their voice and maybe lives, which participated and won many awards in international festivals (a.o. Copenhagen, Kosovo, Leipzig)
As a human rights activist, and Head of the Criminal Investigations Team in Dar’a Syria, I worked with the “Syrian Commission for Justice and Accountability on monitoring, investigating and the documentation of the human rights violations”.
Driven by my conviction that humanitarian action is the most effective, I worked for 5 years with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA Syria. My colleagues and I formed a bridge between the people in need and international donors to effectively organize optimal access to aid.
And where the greatest achievements come through teamworking, partnerships, and believing in your and others’ potential, as a team of Syrian refugees in Jordan, we established a non-profit organization (Auranitis Lifeline) as one of the largest Syrian NGOs and the main USAID /UN partner in Southern Syria. Our projects included education, relief, public buildings rehabilitation, empowerment, livelihoods, and the development of the local administration structure. As its managing director, I represented our organisation in the White House, the European Parliament, the US State Department, and with UN leaders.
I am married and a father of two children. And because family comes first, for safety reasons we had to leave our life in Jordan. We moved to Holland as refugees, and now we’re starting over.
