Renewable Revolution

March 17, 2016
© UNHCR/A. McConnell

SNIPPET:

Scattered debris and concrete bones of buildings blanket the neighborhood of Baba Amr in Homs, Syria. These are cruel reminders of the conflict that drove some 80,000 Syrians from their homes over five years ago. 

Now that calm has settled in again, Syrians like Sabah are the first to return home to repair their roots and dust off the town they left behind to the fate of war.

Sabah remembers vividly the day her home was struck. “When the house was shelled, we felt a huge explosion. We ran out of the house. We looked up and saw that a floor had collapsed.”

It takes years to build a home, but only seconds to destroy it. Rebuilding will be difficult and costly, but Sabah is determined to restore what was lost.

Her home in Baba Amr was more than a place to live, it was a sanctuary of good memories before war and violence became part of her everyday life. “I didn’t want to leave it and lose all these memories,” she said.


Now Sabah has transformed her war-torn home into a place of refuge. She rents two out of three floors of her home to those displaced by conflict. 


http://www.unrefugees.org/2016/03/sabah-is-determined-to-rebuild-her-home/