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STORY: LEBANON / 100-YEAR-OLD SYRIAN REFUGEE
TRT: 2.20
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 1 JANUARY 2014, BORJ QALAWAYI, LEBANON
1. Various shots, Halloum praying
2. Close up, Halloum’s face
3. Close up, Hallum’s hands on prayer mat
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Halloum Alamin, Syrian Refugee:
“I left one son behind in Syria and I have three sons here. My son in Syria didn’t want me to leave but I wanted to see my sons here, I have been here for six months and I want to return. But my sons here won’t let me return.”
5. Close up, pan left, from a child to Halloum
6. Med shot, children playing
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Ahmad Alamin, Halloum’s grandson:
“She is like my mother, she brought me up and my kids too. She is 100 now but her health is good and she still remembers everything. We wake up every morning, we take her out with us on family visits. She tells us stories of her life from when she was born until now. She entertains us at home and we can’t imagine being without her.”
8.Various shots, Halloum and family cutting the birthday cake
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Halloum Alamin, Syrian Refugee:
“I am happy to be with my sons here but my homeland also means a lot to me, but what is more important is my family. What can I do back home at my age? I will not live as long as I have already lived. I am 100 years old and I don’t know if I will live for another hundred days more. I hope to die soon, at my age, death is easy.”
10. Med shot, Halloum sitting on the floor
11. Close up, HAlloum’s face
Halloum Alamin, a Syrian refugee sheltering with her family in Lebanon is starting a new year and a new century of her life. She is or will be...turning 100.
She doesn’t know the actual date of her birth, but she is sure she was born in 1914.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Halloum Alamin, Syrian Refugee:
“I left one son behind in Syria and I have three sons here. My son in Syria didn’t want me to leave but I wanted to see my sons here, I have been here for six months and I want to return. But my sons here won’t let me return.”
When she registered with UNHCR and they asked her about her birth date, she told them she couldn’t remember, so the agency gave her January 1st as her birthday.
So she is now considered by her family to be 100 years old.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmad Alamin, Halloum’s grandson:
“She is like my mother, she brought me up and my kids too. She is 100 now but her health is good and she still remembers everything. We wake up every morning, we take her out with us on family visits. She tells us stories of her life from when she was born until now. She entertains us at home and we can’t imagine being without her.”
But Halloum is torn between life here with her family and her homeland.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Halloum Alamin, Syrian Refugee:
“I am happy to be with my sons here but my homeland also means a lot to me, but what is more important is my family. What can I do back home at my age? I will not live as long as I have already lived. I am 100 years old and I don’t know if I will live for another hundred days more. I hope to die soon, at my age, death is easy.”
Living for a century in Syria, Halloum may now face death in exile.
