After 8-year war, Syrians in eastern Ghouta rebuild lives from ruins

China Daily | Updated: 2019-03-18 07:30

DAMASCUS - After eight years of a destructive civil war, Syrians in eastern Ghouta, a former rebel stronghold east of the capital of Damascus, are pulling themselves together to rebuild their lives.

Ayn Tarma, a town in eastern Ghouta, was the scene of fierce battles between the Syrian army and an array of rebel groups, which controlled the region since the beginning of the civil war until their defeat last May.

With nearly daily shelling and gunfire fading away, the town's main marketplace is now bustling with life again, though the scars of war are still visible in buildings dotted with bullet holes and damaged walls.

Not so far from the marketplace, the destruction of war becomes more noticeable in the residential neighborhoods as most of the buildings are either partially or fully destroyed.

Samir Ghabari, a resident of Ayn Tarma, was quick to return to his home in the same month when the government forces entered the area after clearing the rebels from the neighborhood.

Though shocked by the destruction of his house, Ghabari, who escaped to the Jaramana area in Damascus during the war, was determined to rebuild his home instead of succumbing to anger, sadness and discouragement.

Showing Xinhua reporters around his renovated house that is being renovated, Ghabari said, "I have felt so relieved when I returned here because I was returning to my house and belongings. But when I returned, I found that my house was damaged. And we started repairing from the scratch, because we have to return to our normal live," he said.

Ghabari, a state employee, was among the first to leave their homes as the rebels were targeting the state employees.

Samiha Fares, also a state employee, had to leave her home along with her children to seek refuge in Jaramana during the war. She has been rebuilding her house damaged by the war after her return.

"The most important thing was the high rents and the fact that we were displaced from our homes ... When the situation worsened here, we were displaced to an area where we knew no one and we didn't know what to do," Fares told Xinhua.

In another area in Ayn Tarma, Muhammad Shehadeh was among those who didn't leave their area throughout the war.

For him, hunger was the worst experience. He accused the rebels of keeping the stocks of food for themselves while selling food items to people at huge markups.

Shehadeh's wife, Samira Ayoub, has filled the house with roses, mostly plastic, to give hope for a better life.

"The situation has become better since the Syrian army entered the area, as everything has become available including electricity and water," Shehadeh told Xinhua.

Xinhua