Refugee from Syria living in Kyiv has been selling street food in Ukraine’s capital for more than 10 years, and skipped only 1 day of work throughout the war
Hassan Abdurakhman fled Syriia after his family was killed by bombings in Aleppo. Once he came to Ukraine and now he wants to live all his life there until the last day. He says he is not afraid of shelling but he is afraid of not being able to work and becoming “completely useless.”
“I came to Ukraine almost 11 years ago,” tells Hassan Abdurakhman. “My home and my life were left in Syria. In the city of Aleppo. My whole family, my wife and five children were killed by the airstrikes. I survived accidentally: at the time of the bombing I left the house on business.
I was lucky enough to evacuate from Aleppo. At first I flew to Odesa on several planes, and from there I hitchhiked to Kyiv. Here I met other fugitives: they gave me a roof over my head, arranged an opportunity to work. I have been cooking and selling shawarma [a type of street food] in the center of Kyiv since I arrived.
From the moment Russia has started a full-scale war in Ukraine, I missed, or rather postponed, work only on the day of the attack [February 24, 2022]. Our kiosk has been operating since February 25. We had products, people were coming. Not many people, but still. I was pleased when they were smiling and wondering, ‘What, really? We can get a shawarma?’. ‘Of course you can,’ I replied. ‘I’m not just sitting here.’
My work will not stop because I’m not used to doing nothing. I need to live for something: pay rent, buy food. I will definitely continue to work.”
