An English Teacher in Aleppo, Syria
I first came to know Abdulkhafi on Twitter.
At the time, I was actively looking for folks with interesting stories to share on YAM, and somehow I came across his Twitter profile. He only had 100+ followers back then but he had such a compelling story to tell, and an equally resolute desire to get his message out there, beyond the confines of war-torn Aleppo.
I’d be the first to admit that I’m no expert in the political qundary in that part of the world. All I know is that here’s a young man who recently became a dad and knows that his days, along with his family’s, are numbered. I feel that his story needs to be heard, and YAM could provide another avenue for him to get his message out.
So I reached out to him and we started liaising on WhatsApp. He didn’t seem to care that YAM is a nascent platform with barely any eyeballs. All he really wanted was a chance to tell his story the way he wants to tell it.
He didn’t have an iOS device to directly use the app. So I’d send him some questions on WhatsApp, and he’d send back some video answers. I’d then help him upload to his YAM profile, which I managed on his behalf.
He continued to tweet regularly and with each tweet update, I felt that he and his family were one step closer to “the end”. I asked him on a number of occassions why he chose to stay, considering the safety of his wife and 9 month-old daughter, Lamar.
And this is always his answer:
Even though I’ve never met the guy, I’ve come to respect him a lot. As a dad of a 2 yr-old myself, I can’t imagine myself making those decisions. It was literally drawing a line between putting his family in harm’s way and his beliefs in living as “a free man in his own homeland”.
I knew I was never going to be able to convince him to leave Aleppo. So I tried to check in with him every other day, and I always breathe a sigh of relief every time I heard back from him.
But today, I saw this Periscope from him (posted a few hours ago):
I immediately sent him a text on WhatsApp and after about an hour, I got a reply from him! He’s alive!
But he sounded as dejected he’s ever been.
I wish I can do something to help. But realistically, I know that there’s little that I can do, besides helping him to share his story, which is why I’m writing this post.
If you (the reader) are still reading to this point, I hope you could spare a few more moments to watch some of Abdulkhafi’s answers on YAM below.
I pray that these won’t be the last answers from Abdulkhafi on YAM. I still hope to meet this young English teacher from Aleppo and his family one day, if God willing.
Please help to share this post. Here’s Abdulkhafi’s profile again on Twitter and YAM. His story deserves to be heard.
