Via Dolorosa: Stories of Syrian Refugee Women During the War on Syria and Their Migration to Canada

Our book "Via Dolorosa" sheds light on the sacrifices that Syrian refugee women made before and after coming to Canada in 2016. It shows the amazing resilience these women possess in facing the darkest and harshest of conditions. These women share their stories about war and migration that they lived through in the last decade, after the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War. The sounds of bombs, people screaming, the crying of children, thick black smoke everywhere, corpses on the ground, escaping in the dark night, sleeping in animal pens and under trees are all experiences these Syrian women faced. Feelings of fear, hunger, and loss left them feeling hopeless.

Stuck in their hearts and minds is the pain of the war that they endured that is still ongoing today, every day in various regions in Syria, which led and continues to lead to the displacement of millions of Syrians, causing them to live in tents and in inhumane conditions. Our book describes suffering, resilience, helplessness; it describes hope, strength and weakness. In their stories, life finds its true meaning where despair and hope meet, and where sickness and wellness meet; as well as where fatigue and attempt, defeat and victory, and death and life meet. On their journey to Canada, after years of trauma in a distant, strange country, ignorant of its language, culture, and laws, these women begin tirelessly trying to collect sweet memories, hoping that the painful memories of the war will make them forget, or at least ease its impact on their hearts, so they can be set free and discover a land far away from fear and oppression.