The War Took Picking Olives From Her

Uffa Murad is a Syrian refugee. She has two sons. She is studying at ESOL Al-Hayat to improve her language. She speaks three languages: Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, and a little bit of English. She has been living in the Uk for two years and before that, she lived in Afrin.“She told me that she wants to fulfil her dream of becoming a nurse. She lived a difficult time in Syria because of the war, so she moved to Turkey then Iraq before coming here. In Iraq, she worked as a saleswoman in a clothes shop for five years. She loves to play basketball and loves all Arabic dishes. Mostly she is a vegetarian, but her favourite dish is grilled fish and chips. She hopes to find voluntary work to improve speaking and listening. She tells me “we were going to our farms to pick olives in November and December every year. It can be quite tiring but it is a labour of love.”  The grief of leaving those days is clear from Uffa’s voice.