At twenty-three years old, today I live in Amman, far from my home in Damascus. Participating in the Syrian Trojan Women project, and later the Queens of Syria film, had a significant personal influence on me and on the other women who took part. My participation in this project made me bolder and more confident of myself and changed me for the better. It gave me a way to cope with the difficulties of asylum experience. It also made me feel like I am doing something about what has happened, and is happening, in my home country. Feeling that you have do something, anything, even if it is just to say the right word, is good feeling, for sure. And I think the rest of the women who were with me in this project have the same opinion. None of us had ever acted before, but the workshops eased us into the process.
Photo by Lynn Alleva Lilley, via 'Queens of Syria'
Most of the women involved did not ever imagine that they may stand on stage and tell their stories to a live audience looking at them directly. This experience earned them great courage. One of the women told me that she has become stronger and more self-confident and she is very happy with this. Others also said that they always dreamed to be an actress and this experience gave them the opportunity to achieve one of their childhood dreams.
