MARCEL

 

Age: 56

City/Country of origin: Veghel, The Netherlands.

Marital status: Living together

Children: 1

Profession: Musician

Hobbies: Enjoy life

Reason for staying on Lesvos: Holiday

My mood today (1-10): 8

Why? ...

My advice for the world: Please love each other.

HASAN

 

Age: 33

City/Country of origin: Daraa, Syria

Marital status: Married

Children: 3

Profession: Schoolteacher, banker

Hobbies: Swimming, reading

Reason for staying on Lesvos: On my way to Germany or the Netherlands

My mood today (1-10): 10

Why: Everything went all right today: we arrived safely from Turkey by dinghy. And I met Marcel.

My advice for the world: We should be much more humanitarian.

 

www.theislandofalltogether.com

www.theislandofalltogether.com

 

THE MEETING

More than a year ago the teacher Hasan made a very dangerous escape from his hometown of Daraa to eastern Turkey.  Numerous times he was standing eye to eye with both the Syrian army and IS.  Thank God he made it to Turkey in one piece where he volunteered as a social worker in one of the camps.

After a year of hoping ad waiting came the realization that peace in Syria would be a long time coming, and with that the return to his beloved Daraa. He decided to take control of his own destiny and prepared for the trip with the rubber boat to the Greek island of Lesbos. On August 17th he left.

That same evening he was suddenly sitting on the beach of Lesbos with the Dutch musician Marcel.  The click was instantaneous. A spontaneous discussion arose about faith, and about fear and the power which controlled mankind.  About war and racism.  Assad and IS. And about music of course.

‘Do you also play the guitar like the guitarist from The Scorpions?’ Hasan asked Marcel, ‘or like that of Metallica?' It turned out he was a huge fan of both

groups. ‘Their music lets me fly without wings!’ he said.  The Winds of Change where The Scorpions sing about could blow through Syria as far as Hasan was concerned.

After a quick trip through Europe, Hasan arrived in the German city of Dortmund in early September. He proudly posted a photo on Facebook in front of the cathedral.  He now waits in a centre in Mannheim for the decision about his procedure.

‘How do you feel?’ we asked him via Facebook Messenger. ‘Good and inpatient,’ he said, ‘I am standing at the beginning of a new life.’ After receiving his papers he wants to learn to speak the German language fluently and get a job as quickly as possible in the hope that he can bring his wife and children to Germany.

Until that time he is making the most of it.  ‘When I have my papers I will come to the Netherlands too,’ he told us, ‘then I want to cook for you.’  He said that he is the best in preparing all kinds of Arabian dishes.  Hasan, we are ready and waiting!’