Qisetna - My questions to one of the founders, Juan Del Gado, and his answers

- What exact moment moved you (Juan) and the two other co-founders to start the Qisetna project?

In late 2013, I met two young Syrians who were living in London; we talked about setting up a project online in which we could collect stories from Syrians displaced internally, crossing borders, and resettling across Europe. I also came across a blog that was promoting Arab Culture in London, ran by media students at City University. I contacted one of them, Julia Rampen, who had graduated and started to work as a young journalist. After several meetings, we launched the bilingual blog in early 2014 as a volunteer-led project.

- How has running this project affected you, Dima and Julia most deeply?

When we started, we were not aware of the tremendous impact this project would have in our lives. In our project, we have been approaching Syrians whose lives had been turned upside down, losing relatives and friends, fleeing their hometowns, their homes, jobs... crossing borders, jumping on inflatable boats, walking hundreds of kilometers, sleeping rough in the open fields, in cities of countries across Europe...above all having been deprived of their dignity as human beings. Being in touch with them, listening to hundreds of young people, the elderly and children telling their stories of loss broke our hearts many times. Their words had a huge impact on our perception and understanding of how European Institutions failed to provide basic humanitarian assistance to them. We also learned of the extraordinary resilience of individuals determined to carry on, do whatever in their hands to survive and protect their families and friends.

Through their stories we could understand the colossal tragedy of Syrian people who, from having a normal life, were thrown into a huge vortex of uncertain future. In Qisetna, we gradually understood that our project is more than a collection of stories; when Syrians contribute with their stories and testimonies, they are challenging humanity to connect with them as human beings, victims of an unimaginable disaster.

We have become the bridge over which readers who find difficult to understand this terrible war, can access Syrians as people who love music and the arts, individuals with an ancient culture and identity, who mainstream media have overlooked in the many years of this conflict. 

Last month we received the National Archive and Community Award (ACA), and also were shortlisted for the Arab British Culture Award 2017

We were thrilled with the recognition of our work which we wanted to extend to all our supporters and contributors. More than ever, we realise how important this project is to preserve the cultural identity of the Syrian diaspora for future generations to have access to first hand stories from those who lived through displacement and loss.