The Syrian painter showed me photos of his murals in Damascus. Now he makes a drawing of all volunteers, friends + decorates the walls of OHF.
The work ranges from realistic to expressive, from murals to drawings.
He thinks M.3 would be a good name for him in this blog. 'M.3' (47) is a painter from Damascus. After an education as a painter he made a good living as a mural painter and related work. Then came the war. He is from Barza, a rebel quarter of Damascus.
His house was bombed by Assad forces when they built a tunnel under the street and then exploded half the street at once. Despite the sheer terror he took out a loan to buy and repair a house a few streets away. A month after he, his wife (30) and two children (a boy now 8 and a daughter,17) moved in, the new house was blown up as well. Luckily they were not inside and survived. The area was under siege, and they had no water and food. Tanks shot at them any time day and night. His children could only go to school on on and off, then stopped completely in 2014.
[My phone rings. I get a nuisance phone call from the US with a chirpy voice telling me I have been selected for some cruise – unbelievable]
M.3 shows me photos on his phone and a YouTube video of his street (by ANF rebel tv). His family managed to move to a safer area but he went back to his old quarter a few times. Now the fighting there had stopped but nobody lived there – all is rubble.
He plays a video of someone being asked for ID by the army and shot point blank when they saw he was from Barza. His ID also said ‘Barza’. He knew he was not safe and wanted to leave. This was ca 2014.
If your ID shows the wrong part of Damascus, you may get shot point blank.
His wife did not want to leave, so he left with others of his family (2 sisters among them). They tried to cross to Turkey at Bab al-Hawa, near Aleppo, but the border was closed. They managed to cross about 45km south near Idlib and settled in Isparta, near Antalya. He met a Syrian woman and married her as a 2nd wife. His two sisters also lived near Isparta but then got permission to join their husbands in Germany. Now he felt alone. He did not find regular work, only occasional house painting or construction. After 2 years in Turkey he wanted to leave. But his new wife did not want to leave her mother and family behind – especially since she was pregnant. So M.3 decided to leave alone in the hopes of having his family join him wherever he would get asylum.
He arrived in Mitilini in the summer of 2016, almost 12 months ago, and spent 8 of those months in Moria. His wife now has a 10 month old daughter he never met. He is sad but hopes his family will be reunited.
His first wife and children in Damascus have now moved to the safe (Assad) side where the children can also go back to school. M.3 says that she now has a good job and showed me photos of her work at what seemed a convention center.
He comes to the community center every day, he draws every day, realistic portraits or murals of idealized landscapes or expressionist anguish. He showed me some ‘pop’ murals he did in Syria for school fields etc. He is very quiet, rarely talks. He ate very poorly the last years, lost 7 teeth and has constant toothaches that make eating and speaking harder. He just saw a dentist today (7-17) to help him replace the teeth. A Swiss volunteer started a crowd-fundraiser with her friends at home since he cannot pay the 1000 Euro for the treatment. ‘100 Euros for one of his drawings’. Two days later, a sunny day, she had collected enough money.
M.3 befriended an equally quiet and friendly Moroccan man his age who plays guitar while M.3 draws or paints. I get him a set of color pencils and art paper. The next day he gives me a portrait he drew from a photo of me. He makes many portraits and gives them away. Drawing pushes his misery away, fears about how he will put his life back together. He is fine to go to any country that would take him – he knows he would be killed if he returned to Syria.
Update November 2017: I am in touch with several OHF volunteers and refugees via facebook, WhatsApp or chats. Sunday, Nov.19 I read that both M’s request for asylum – and his appeal were rejected, and he was taken to prison for deportation. A few days later he was freed with the help of lawyer but is not allowed to leave the island.
Update Google Earth: M's journey can now be followed as a visual and interactive story on Google Earth. Download this .kmz file + open it in GE.