#RefugeesWelcome: Fleeing War and Chaos for a New Life in Texas

I never expected to be living in Houston, or anywhere in the United States, for that matter. That was a dream that we only knew from television and the stories of our cousins who would visit over the summers. I was born and raised in Syria; I went to school and lived in Damascus. It was a simple life, but it was a pretty amazing, carefree childhood.

But when civil war broke out, everything changed. I started to lose friends and I was afraid that I would lose my family as well. It was shocking for us to hear that students and young kids were being tortured to death.

You saw a lot of dead bodies in the street; you saw a bombed car; you saw a sniper shooting at people. I was so afraid that I stopped going to school. I was scared that I might get recruited to fight—even though I wasn’t even 18 years old.

I was very much in danger of getting arrested by the Syrian army because they saw me helping kids and women and hiding them in our house. I saw my friend shot by a sniper and I saw his dead body on the ground. I didn’t know what to do. There was total chaos over there, total destruction.

One evening after my mom parked her car and was at our doorstep, some people threw her to the ground and punched and kicked her. She decided to go to the United States to visit some family. She grabbed her stuff and just left, within 24 hours of the incident.  She sought asylum.

I couldn’t leave then because I had my high school finals, but within 48 hours I decided that I needed to leave, too. People were asking my friends about me, and I was afraid that I was about to be arrested. I gave a man the equivalent of $50 and he drove me to the border with Jordan. I had to bribe the Syrian border guard with everything I had to let me leave.

I lived in Jordan on my own for nearly two years while my mom’s asylum case was being processed. I worked 12 hours every day and I was lucky to find work at that time. 

After I underwent several security checks and got my visa for the United States, I grabbed my stuff and told my boss that I was leaving. During my life as a refugee in Jordan, I had no productivity, no hope and no school.

It was pretty easy for me to adapt to living in America. Everyone was so supportive, helping me with my English, with my social life, with everything I had to get done. As a refugee, I received financial assistance for a couple of months and was covered by Medicaid for health care for eight months. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and the local mosque community helped me make the transition. Now I’m working part-time at a coffee shop and trying to get a job with a law firm. I’m going to Houston Community College and hope to transfer to University of Texas, Austin, and eventually go to law school.

The most amazing thing about the U.S. is that Americans make you feel you’re just like one of them. And refugees have to contribute, to make this country better, by working, by studying, by helping others.

I consider the United States to be my country now.

I’m honored to share my story in recognition of World Refugee Day. I encourage you to join the conversation online and share your story using #RefugeesWelcome.

The HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement was established by the Refugee Act of 1980 to help refugees integrate into their new communities in the United States and become self-sufficient. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is an affiliate of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which works with ORR to help refugees achieve self-sufficiency through cultural orientation, job development, financial assistance and other services.