Together with colleague Benjamin Reece and with the support of international charity organization CARE, photographer Robert Fogarty traveled to Jordan to deliver the messages of Syrian refugees to the world. They did so in these portraits, in which refugees used felt-tip markers to express their hopes. "The refugees seemed so different from me -- their dress, their language, and their customs. But I felt like I knew them. Especially when they laughed and cried. And how they described their homes, even down to how the water tasted or how the sands of Syria felt beneath their [feet]," Fogarty writes on his dearworld.me photoblog. (Photos by Robert Fogarty and Benjamin Reece; text by Robert Fogarty)
Syrian Refugees' Messages To The World
1
"I want the life I had back." Huda, who now lives in the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan, is 11. She was with her family outside their house in Syria when a bomb hit. She was the only one hurt. The family had to hide for many hours and could not get to a hospital for nearly two days. Huda's favorite subject in school is Arabic.
2
"I am losing my childhood." This boy has several older siblings, one of whom wrote the message, "I miss my brothers."
3
"My Syria... when will we return?" In Syria, war prevented teachers from reaching a school in this young woman's neighborhood. She lived closer to the school and volunteered to teach the students "so they wouldn't forget." Now living in Jordan, she works as a CARE volunteer, helping her fellow refugees.
4
"Save Syrian children."
5
"At my family's home, the taste of the water is different." This young woman described her family's life during the war before their escape: "We've been through hard moments. They bombed our whole neighborhood. They were shooting outside. We were at the window and one bullet came very near."
6
"Syria in the heart." It is extremely difficult for Syrian refugees to work legally in Jordan. Syrian men want to work but are not allowed.
7
"What is our family?"
8
"I love my friends." A boy at the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan. Child labor is a problem among Syrian refugee children, many of whom do not go to school.
9
Boy: "I miss my friends, my family." Girl on left: "I want to go back to Syria, but it is hard." Girl on right: "Safety for Syria." CARE gives this refugee family and others an emergency cash grant to help them with urgent needs.
10
"Where is my life?" Refugee girls face special challenges. CARE and other NGOs work to prevent early marriage and make sure girls go to school.
11
In Syria before the war, Muhammad once encountered a tourist who feared him because of his name. The tourist actually ran from him when Muhammad tried to return the tourist's water bottle.
12
"I love Syria." As of September 2013, Zaatari refugee camp housed more than 100,000 Syrian refugees, making it the world's second-largest refugee camp.
13
"I am sick of Zataari and I miss Syria." This young Syrian woman living in the Zaatari refugee camp wrote her message in rhyme. Another message she had in mind was "Life will be beautiful."
14
"Hand in hand, we build the world." This Syrian man volunteers at CARE's refugee center in the city of Zarqa. The majority of Syrian refugees in Jordan live in crowded apartments in poor areas of cities, not in refugee camps.