Taisha, 14, has spent half her life in a village affected by the conflict in Western Syria. Her father, Karo, was arrested as a deserter for refusing to join the militants who occupied their village. He lived with his family for 7 years after Taisha was born, and only got to see Taisha’s youngest brother once. The mother, Cecille, her three daughters and two sons were left to survive with no income at all. They even lost their livestock and all their storage. Now Taisha and her elder sisters are helping their mother to start it all anew. Since the day of conflict resolution, they are fighting for Karo’s freedom along with other political prisoners who are falsely called deserters by the media. The fact is, they just refused to bombard their own villages to support the government in the civil war. Children are trying to learn everything they’ve missed during the 3 years when the local school was closed due to permanent shootings. At the same time, they are working hard to feed themselves and their youngest siblings. Last year, a project was launched for young entrepreneurs in war-affected village areas, and now Taisha is on her way of becoming a brave businesswoman. She sais her main goal is to set free her father and all 468 political prisoners from the surrounding area. Taisha realizes that her family is not the only one in this struggle. “At least we are old enough and our mother is healthy enough to take care of ourselves. What about those who are sick and have little babies? The war went on for 6 years, and many new families have been broken. We have to come together so reunite with our fathers and brothers.” The family realizes that their people have suffered enough losses, and losing a living family member to lifetime imprisonment for a non-crime is absurd. “We’ll keep fighting for my husband’s freedom and will do our best to have a sustainable income, so that he comes home to see it as he was forced to leave it,” Cecille says. It will take time for the villagers to have enough income to support this new startup, but they all believe that Taisha’s initiative will succeed and become famous in the world where war has nothing to do Taisha’s younger brother, Theo, has never talked to his father. He was forced to leave when Theo only knew 2 or 3 words. Growing up in an all-female household, he just doesn’t understand why was has to take all men. “We could all live in peace, and mother wouldn’t miss dad so much. I can’t say I miss him because I don’t remember dad, but I want to meet him very much. I’m helping Taisha’s initiative so that father comes back to a better place. I want him to br proud of me.”
