Meet Gueya:
Gueya currently lives in Jounieh, Lebanon, with her parents. She left Syria in 2013 and moved to Sweden with her family shortly thereafter. She then relocated to Lebanon, where she volunteers teaching English to young children in a nearby refugee camp. While in Syria she attended the University of Damascus, where she received her certification as a nutritionist. She is fluent in Arabic, French, English, and Swedish, and she has spent much of her time in Syria, Sweden, or Lebanon volunteering with children. Among her many accomplishments, the one that stands out the most, however, is her participation on the Syrian National Basketball team. She was at one point named one of the top five basketball players in Syria. She hopes one day to be able to work in her chosen field of nutrition.
Listen to Gueya discuss her time in Sweden and Lebanon:
Interviewers: Catriona Harvey Trinity ’17; Hayes McManemin Trinity ’19; Beth Sercombe Trinity ’17
Transcript:
“I was in intensive courses for six months and I have the first curriculum in Sweden in Swedish Language. So, first when I went there it was a strange language that I could not understand at all because even the writing is different from the English. So I was trying to read it but it’s not the way they pronounce it, and I thought that it would be so difficult for me. And then when I started to learn it for hours and hours a day so I can practice it quickly and I can go shopping and speak Swedish because they don’t prefer people speaking English. I started going to shops and talking to them in Swedish even though I know that I’m not talking to them perfectly, but I found they are supporting me, they are trying to let me practice.”
“Then, for example, I had to do my license back there in Sweden so I could work as a nutritionist, and this was three years studying again from the beginning. And there was no vacancies in working, but it was so difficult, and I tried so hard but I couldn’t find anything and it was so different from what I used to have or what I used to live in. So we decided to move back to Lebanon.”
“Maybe here in Lebanon, for example, for me it’s complicated because at a point it’s good to have a community wherever you are. And at the same time, for example, here in Lebanon, we are facing problems because we are becoming too many, and when you say ‘I’m Syrian,’ its like a disaster, and, they don’t feel like asking you more questions, seeing your background, where are you from, how did you get there. No. it’s just like an adjective: they give it to you and you are Syrian and that’s bad for them. And they don’t want to know more about you. For example, when you go and apply for work, some of them reply back to come to an interview, but most of them when they see on my CV that I am Syrian, they don’t want to see me. I had two interviews, and they were all going well and they asked me, ‘If I got accepted in this work, I should speak Lebanese Arabic.’ And I was like, ‘okay why? I’m speaking my language and you can understand it, and I’m speaking it right now and you can understand me.’ And he was like, ‘No, because I don’t want the people that you are dealing with to know you’re Syrian.’”
“Or, for example, I just heard one story about a parent that was trying to register his son in the public school. And then when he went there, the director just yelled at him because he came for three days in a row to get the registration. And he was like, ‘all the Syrians are coming at the same time I have no places.’ And he started yelling at them. And then the parents were like ‘why is he doing this? We have the right to get all of our children registrated [registered] but…’ And yes we know we are so many but this is the situation and they have to let our children have a place in their schools.”
“Yes, there is all of those problems, but at the same time I see that Lebanon the way they are living and the people around, they are similar to Syria, and that’s why I love being here. And I really, really love the environment here. And I found myself here. Whenever I go to work, for example, it’s something that I love doing and I’m doing it here, and don’t feel like I’m so far away from my country. I feel like it’s really close, I can be there whenever I want. And I feel a little bit safe in this place.”
