Radio Alwan

-7- F16

Dina was plugging her headphones from her Controller while texting Ali asking him if he saw Leyla yet. but nobody saw her and she is never late and the program should be starting in a few minutes.
Dina was just about to call Leyla when she saw her rushing into the studio, sunglasses in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other and with the bag is hanging from her arm like a turbulent monkey. It would have been funny in another situation. 

L: Hi Dina. 
D: What happened girl?
L: It is a long story. After the program. 
D: Allah Allah
Dina adjusted Leyla's microphone and left to her spot to launch the program's generic.
Leyla tried to imagine that she never left the studio yesterday and nothing happened.

M: Salam Ms. Leyla
L: Salam, welcome to our program '' Stories & Stories'', What is your story for us today? 
Thank you..
M: My name is Mohammad and I am from Libya. I do some business here so I am mostly in Istanbul but today's story is not about me exactly, however, it changed my whole perspective on life.

L: Let's hear you, Mohammad. 

M: Last month I was at a coffee shop in Beylikdüzü, and I was hanging out with my friends as the only clients that day, it was late at night and heavily raining when suddenly a huge thunderstorm lightened the whole street and made the glass door vibrate for some minutes.

The waiter is a young Syrian guy, we see him there every time we go. We like him because he is a hard worker and he is every time polite. After the thunderstorm he began to scream F16, F16, it is a bomb, a bomb. We started to laugh and told him that it is a thunderstorm, but his face became paler explaining to us that is it definitely a bomb: I know a bomb when it strikes, I heard many bombs back home.

We stopped laughing because he was panicking and it took us a few minutes to see that he is traumatized and to calm him down.

 
I left the coffee shop with a heavy heart, Ms. Leyla. I always heard about the civil war in Syria and even in Libya my homeland, we are not the safest country out there. But what I saw that night made me see the damage with my own eyes. I can never forget how his eyes were fixed to the ceiling as he kept screaming: F16, it is a bomb, over and over and over. 

We asked the coffee shop owner about his situation, apparently, he lost his fiancee which was also his cousin during a bombing, even though he seems to carry on his life. He is deeply traumatized and he keeps seeing flashbacks and nightmares every night. We tried to help him but it was so hard to do without offending his pride and we still don't know what we can do to help him.

Leyla: Thank you very much Mohammad for sharing this story with us. Please do not hang up yet, the program director will take your number and some information about the young Syrian man so we can help you to help him. Thank you once again.

Dina puts on a Turkish song this time; 7 karanfil band's song : Haydar Haydar. 

Today we listened to Mohammed and we have witnessed once again, the huge pain that was caused by the war in Syria. It breaks my heart every time. What makes me feel hopeful is that I see many Syrian brothers and sisters integrated into the Turkish society; managing successful businesses, living with dignity, and helping each other move forward. We also are open to everyone who wants to help other Syrians in distress. We will share the link of this episode on our Facebook page and we are waiting for your comments and messages. The young man may need the help of a psychologist to help him with his trauma. Please contact us if you are one or you know one who is specialized in trauma. 

She clears her throat and makes herself ready to pour her soul out again.