vc_edit_form_fields_attributes_vc_ ‘We’ve tried everything’ – Red Cross Red Crescent
Podcast

‘We’ve tried everything’

Meet Hassan Al Kontar, the renowned “man in the airport,” who was stuck in an airport while seeking asylum. Also with Houda Al-Fadil, a Syrian refugee striving to rebuild her cooking business after surviving a devastating earthquake in Türkiye.

In our first episode, editor-in-chief Malcolm Lucard and senior communications officer Irina Ruano track down Hassan, a refugee of the Syrian conflict who became known worldwide as the “man in the airport.”

Hassan spent 6 months living in an air terminal as he tried to find a country that would grant him asylum. Along with the Canadian Red Cross, the magazine produced a multi-media story package about Hassan (‘If someone told me this story, I wouldn’t believe it.’), who ultimately found refuge in Canada and eventually became a Canadian Red Cross volunteer.

In this podcast, we also speak with Houda, also a Syrian refugee who is struggling to restart her cooking business after the terrifying earthquake in Türkiye in February. With help from the Turkish Red Crescent and ESSN, Houda had been able to start a small cooking business in which she cooked both Syrian and Turkish recipes. See the story ‘Houda’s Dream’ here. It was a great story about inclusion, entrepreneurship and human dedication. We called up Houda to find out how she was doing after the recent, horrific earthquake that hit Syria and Türkiye in February. You can read more about her and how she’s still striving to make her dreams come true here on this IFRC.org story. 

Stay tuned for more episodes to come!

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