Wafaa dreams of making her family
whole again.

She fled the war in Syria with her three children.

Wafaa Tabra, 33 years old: “I used to be a fashion designer in Syria. I studied sewing and fashion design at the Mamoun International Center in Damascus. Most of all, I loved making wedding dresses.”

“Then the war came. It destroyed everything. My husband left our home eleven months ago. I haven’t seen him since. He managed to reach Germany. I hoped to join him via the reunification program, but it was taking too long. Then, my children’s school was destroyed. My brother died in a bombing, and friends and relatives were killed. We lived in constant fear. Staying in Syria was too dangerous. Maybe I could have endured it, but they couldn’t [her children]. I decided I had to leave.”

“I’ve been in Greece for two months. We slept in a small tent in a gas station near Idomeni. For weeks, we hoped the border would open. Then, a month ago, we moved to another camp. We have a large tent to ourselves now. We draw, paint and play. Art helps us to forget our difficulties. But my children miss their father.”

“ Now, I dream. I dream of continuing my education, of making dresses again. I dream of my children returning to school. Most of all, I dream of making my family whole again.”


In a refugee camp in northern Greece, Wafaa and her three children, aged 3 to 15, are making paper lanterns out of cardboard boxes for Ramadan.

The 33-year-old fashion designer fled her hometown of Aleppo, Syria, in February 2016. She had hoped to join her husband in Germany, who left their war-torn home one year ago. But her family’s flight from war came to a halt in Greece, after countries along the Balkans route tightened borders in March.

Greece. After fleeing Syria with her three children, Wafaa Tabra dreams of reuniting with her husband in Germany

Wafaa (right) draws a henna tattoo on the arm of a young girl. The 33-year-old fashion designer fled her hometown of Aleppo with her three children, Now they live in a tent in Lagkadikia, Greece. © UNHCR/A. Zavallis

Greece. After fleeing Syria with her three children, Wafaa Tabra dreams of reuniting with her husband in Germany

Thirteen-year-old Aya (centre) and her mother Wafaa (right) cut a carton box to create lanterns that will decorate their tent during the month of Ramadan. Ava’s three-year-old brother Mohammed (left) tries to help by decorating their tent with one of his drawings. © UNHCR/A. Zavallis

Greece. After fleeing Syria with her three children, Wafaa Tabra dreams of reuniting with her husband in Germany

Wafaa (centre) walks with her son Mohammed and daughter Aya inside the Lagkadikia site where the family are staying while awaiting an appointment with the Greek asylum service.© UNHCR/A. Zavallis

Greece. After fleeing Syria with her three children, Wafaa Tabra dreams of reuniting with her husband in Germany

Wafaa, a 33-year-old fashion designer who fled Syria with her three children, shares a photo of one of the dresses she used to make. The family want to apply for family reunification. © UNHCR/A. Zavallis

Greece. After fleeing Syria with her three children, Wafaa Tabra dreams of reuniting with her husband in Germany

Wafaa (33) plays with her three-year-old son Mohammed inside the tent the family share at the Lagkadikia site in Greece. © UNHCR/A. Zavallis

Greece. After fleeing Syria with her three children, Wafaa Tabra dreams of reuniting with her husband in Germany

Thirteen-year-old Aya, a refugee from Aleppo, Syria, is pictured with a dollhouse she made out of cardboard boxes, inside the tent she shares with her mother and two brothers at the Lagkadikia site in Greece. © UNHCR/A. Zavallis


Wafaa and her three children spent six weeks sleeping in a small tent, pitched in a petrol station near the Greek border village of Idomeni. They waited for weeks, hoping they would eventually be allowed northwards. Wafaa was desperate to find somewhere secure for her children. Then, about a month ago, they moved to a new refugee site in the area of Lagkadikia, near the city of Thessaloniki in northern Greece.

Wafaa says she will apply for family reunification. Now she and her children can only wait for an appointment with the Greek asylum service.

Written by Stella Nanou
Video by Vania B. Turner

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