How can we take part in writing the history of Syria liberated from the regime of Bashar al-Assad? In the Ghouta region ravaged by fighting and bombings, young people are taking to the streets to participate in the national movement to rebuild the country.
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With our special correspondents in Douma,
Between a row of facades covered with bullets and the carcass of a collapsed building, young men are busy, brooms in hand in Douma, in Ghouta. “ We organized a cleaning campaign with friends. Nobody cleans the streets here. Before the fall of the regime, we did not have the right to have this type of initiative, to act as a community. We young men were holed up at home to escape the army “, he said.
A few streets further on, young women are working with paintbrushes on the surrounding wall of a ruined building. Standing on a chair, Sidra al-Jabi draws a face. “ This is Mazen Hamada. He died in Syrian prisons. His story touched me a lot. He managed to escape Syria and was finally forced to return. The photo of his dead body still haunts me. That’s why I want to draw it. Through suffering, we will create something beautiful. We will not let our children experience what we experienced “, she says.
For years, the people of Ghouta and the ruins in which they lived were isolated from the rest of the population. Only residents had the right to enter. Today, young people say they want to put aside resentment and unite with the rest of Syrians to rebuild the country.
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