Fardous Bahbouh is a force of nature; it is difficult to get an appointment with her because she is so busy spinning multiple plates at once - teaching, lecturing, journalism, organizing and volunteering.

The Syrian woman has an undergraduate degree in political science from Grinnell College in the US and a Masters in English language teaching from London Metropolitan University. She was in Britain when the revolution in Syria started. Unable to go back due to the war, she decided to make London her home.

Bahbouh acknowledges that she might not appear to be your "classical refugee" in that she was already in London financed by her parents’ money, but all her work stems from personal experience and her understanding of what it is like to have to start again in a new country.

Connecting newly arrived refugees

Bahbouh had started work in the UK, teaching English, Arabic and translation and was already volunteering with various organizations helping refugees, among them "Safe Passage UK" and "Citizen UK" when she decided, along with a few friends, to found a community grassroots organization called "Ahlan Wa Sahlan" (which means "Welcome" in Arabic) in 2016.

The organization aims to connect people living in the UK with newly arrived refugees and to provide English classes and other support to encourage integration through social and cultural activities and employability workshops. The classes are open to everyone - men, women and all migrants regardless of their refugee status, explains Bahbouh: "We aim to create a safe and friendly environment in order for people to meet and practice their English language."

Many members have forged friendships through the group. One even managed to improve his English well enough to fulfill his dream: studying math at university. 

Breaking down preconceptions is an important part of Bahbouh’s mission. She was frustrated with how most of the media were portraying the Syrian revolution and the way they talked about refugees in general: "I wanted to show the ordinary people, their journey, their struggle, their ambition, their resilience, everything." That’s why she joined the "Migrant journalism project," she says: "I wanted to tell personal stories about Syria and refugees and raise awareness."  

Giving back through drama

Fardous Bahbouh has lived and studied in the US, the UK and Turkey. In her work, she wanted to focus on the female experience. To that end, she joined forces with another organization, the Scheherazade Foundation. With funding from the UK's National Lottery, they set up women’s drama classes. The goal is to help women to "develop their leadership skills, their speaking skills and to create an atmosphere for [the women] where they could safely discuss the challenges and difficulties that most refugee and migrant women face in the UK," says Caroline Watson, founder of the Scheherazade Foundation.

The project also aims to highlight how "populations on the move bring great wealth to society," says Watson. Bahbouh is a perfect example of that. In a determined voice she explains: "I have met a lot of people who helped me through my journey so I wanted to be the one who helped others. I know, even a simple act of kindness can help other people manage the challenges they are facing." 

Challenges for refugees  

Bahbouh takes a sip of hot tea and a deep breath before addressing the challenges that refugees face in the UK. "There are so many of them," she begins. "Starting a whole new life in a foreign country; learning English from scratch; many of them left behind their lives, their relatives, their social relations; they were established in their careers, their homes and everything."

"It is naturally difficult to start from zero in a new country. For instance, some of them were recognized for their social status [back home] and here they feel like they are nobody, like nobody knows who they are," she says. 

That’s where Fardous’ organization Ahlan Wa Sahlan steps in. "I believe integration is a two-way process," she says. "Once people feel they are welcomed and see that people want to be their friend then they feel that, ‘yes, there is a chance I can make this country my second home.’ So bringing people together and making refugees feel they are welcomed and accepted can be a very important part of the integration process.” Bahbouh feels she sets an example herself too. One of the biggest challenges for refugee women, in particular, is that there is often a change in the social norms once they move. Relationships between men and women are different in the UK. Bahbouh says she has personally observed that the challenges of new life in a western society add more pressure on the family structure as some men might be insecure when they see the women have more freedom and rights in the UK.

Learning to speak out 

This is where the drama classes come in. For women exclusively, they empower them to tell their own stories. In May they performed a play, "Lina." It focused on the challenges that the women themselves faced when they arrived in the UK. They had 30 to 40 participants, who mainly hailed from Syria but from few other countries too. They liked learning English through drama and communication so that they were able to express their feelings and their ideas, Bahbouh says. “For women to be able to stand on stage and tell a story; [a story that] the participants wrote together; it was a very empowering experience,” she explains.

“I do believe we should not be trapped watching tragedies unfold in the news like paralyzed witnesses. We can all reach out to alleviate the suffering and make a difference with our skills and abilities. And we can start within our local communities,” Bahbouh writes on the Ahlan Wa Sahlan website. 

She hopes that by sharing her own story, more people will be inspired to take action and start organizing their own community initiatives, to bring people together and spread the message of compassion and care.