The desktop of Syrian student Louai Alsaman’s computer constantly rotates headlines about the civil war in his country.
Alsaman said he pours over American, Syrian and international updates and frequents YouTube videos, Facebook statuses and tweets from his friends in Syria.
Alsaman, 28, spent the first 26 years of his life in Damascus, the capital of Syria. He came to Ball State after graduating with a degree in architecture from the University of Damascus. He is studying for his master’s in architecture as part of the Fulbright Scholar Program.
But he is always worried about his family back home. Alsaman took the time to meet with The Ball State Daily News to share his perspective on the situation in his home country and how it is affecting his life.
Read the full transcript here.
Q: Why did you choose to come to Ball State?
A: It has always been a dream to continue my studies in a master's program with digital design. I applied for Fulbright two years ago and was accepted to a couple of universities, but I ended up in Ball State. The only thing I knew about Ball State was the pictures from the Internet. But the thing that made me interested was the digital fabrication program that is something I want to pursue. I applied for a Fulbright and it got me here.
Q: How long have you been in the United States and what is your background in Syria?
A: I have been here for a year and a half; this is my second year here. I come from a middle-class family. My father is a Muslim, my mother is Christian, so I have been going back and forth with cultural issues.
Q: Where is your family now?
A: My extended family is in Syria, but my father and mother are here. My brother came before me — he is in New York City doing his intern on medicine at Englewood Hospital. Mom and Dad had to come here because they wanted to visit their sons, we are the only sons they have. We are just two siblings. They came here, but they didn’t intend to stay here, but because of the situation in Syria, that was one of the options for them to stay safe. They live in New York with my brother. [I am glad they are there], they are safe.
Q: Are you in contact with your family in Syria?
A: [I am] always in contact with family in Syria. There [are] bombings, shelling, suicide bombing everywhere in Syria, but [I think] Damascus and Latakia. I think these two cities are the minimum two cities to be affected. Still, Damascus has been affected more than Latakia. I am pretty worried about the people there. I have my old friends there; my family is living there. Yeah, I am always in contact with them, all the time. I have lost a couple of friends.
Q: When you lived in Syria, did you see any conflict?
A: The situation has escalated a lot since I have been out of Syria, a year and a half ago. No, I didn’t see any real conflict [when I was in Syria]. It was pretty different back then. But the pictures they are showing nowadays of Syria, I feel really sad about what is going on because Damascus is one of the pretties cities all around the world. All [the] damages and all of those things being destroyed — places you grew up in, places you used to hang out with your friends, go for a drink or go for fun — you can’t go there anymore. Some of those places don’t exist.
Q: How do you feel that you are in the U.S. while so much is going on in your home country?
A: I can’t say I am grateful or not grateful. I came to the U.S. for my master's program. That is what I was thinking, just finish my master's program and get back to my country because that is home. There is some kind of conflict now in my life, like what should I do with my future? For sure, there is no work there. There is a civil war going on and all of these parties are interfering with Syria’s issue. I don’t want to be a part of that. I don’t want to be one of those people who is going to be killing his own people like Syrians killing Syrians. I don’t believe in that. I am one of those people that do believe in peace and rainbows. I don’t know if I am going to go home after my master's. I hope I can go home because I love my country. I am just thinking it is just a phase and it is going to pass.
Q: When you left Syria, did you feel you would be safer if you left?
A: Safety was not a concern when I left. I was never afraid of staying in Syria.
Q: What do you think of the situation there?
A: The situation is crazy, people just killing each other. They are slaughtering each other. I don’t know what should happen. I don’t know if someone should do something but I am definitely against war.
Q: What do you think the Syrians want?
A: A lot of people want peace. After three years of war, people just want to end the war, whatever it is. I am just talking about the people, not the people in the parties. The people who are in love with their country. Nowadays, they are the majority.
Q: Do you think the U.S. should intervene militarily?
A: The U.S. should not get involved in a military action.
Q: What can the U.S. do instead?
A: The U.S. can do a lot. They can volunteer. They can make a lot of donations. Instead of the money they are going to put to war, they can put that money to people who are starving, people who are living in camps — the Syrian refugees all around the world, not only in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, but there are a lot of Syrians forced to get out of their homes. They can design resilient places for them to live and use the money for different issues.
Q: Have any of your views on the U.S. and its involvement in Syria changed since you have lived here?
A: I am one of those people that reads a lot and makes a lot of analysis so my opinions on the United States have not changed. I love this country more for the way you treat each other, the way you work, the way [Americans] love their work. When I came to the United States, I thought this was the land of dreams. I haven’t changed my mind about that, but you have to work really hard for it, like in any other place. But the difference here is you have the opportunities to do so.
Q: Do you think Assad used chemical weapons on the Syrian people?
A: I do not know.
Q: What news do you watch?
A: I watch the American news, international news, BBC news — I watch everything. More specifically, the news that comes from the place because there is a lot of social media about it. Different media don’t have those kind of videos. People there are posting on YouTube and Facebook; I get to watch what they are posting. I spend a lot of time looking at Syrian social media. I see people killing each other, bombing. I also see refugees.
The way that people treat refugees [and] the way the community is treating Syrians. Syrians, in their time, have opened their gates for the Iraqi people, for Lebanese, for Jordan, for people from Turkey, and nowadays, everyone is closing their doors on Syrian people. Even the U.S. is not giving all the people visas. European countries? You should forget about it, they are not giving Syrians visas. The solution is not with supporting any kind of a party.
Q: What do you think the international community should do instead?
A: If you are going to be supportive, you should be helping the people. There are people there who are innocent, who haven’t been involved in anything, who are just suffering. I think the international community should be helping the Syrian people more.
Q: Do you value news coverage more or the social media of Syrians?
A: I would rather get my stories from the people themselves. There are a lot of people back home and I know they are not fabricating or exaggerating anything. I would rather go for their credibility.
Q: How much time do you spend keeping up on Syria?
A: I have my screen always on the news. It is a major thing in my mind, life right now.
Q: How do you feel that you are here while this is going on?
A: I always get sad because of what is happening in Syria. All of the people all around the world, when you get a vacation, the first thing when you get back home, [you] see your friends. When your vacation is off, you get back to your country. The situation nowadays for the Syrians, we are all scattered all around the world. I have friends in Washington, D.C., New York City, California, Europe, Australia, all around the world, in [the] Middle East, Dubai, Egypt. There are people everywhere. We just don’t have the time to get all back together; we are scattered around the world. We can’t go back to our country and meet there because of different issues like the war.
It is dangerous to go back to my country, even if I am in love with my country. But the moment the war stops, I am going back there.
Q: What do you think of the coverage of Syria in the American news?
A: All of the media, they just want to make propagandas about the news. They want to get more viewers so they work that way. That is one of the things the media does. The other thing I think in some kind of a way, yeah, there is bias for each party, but in the same media, there can be a bias. I think [are there] odds of being neutral in the news? I don’t think so.
Q: Do you think Americans are as concerned about Syria as they should be?
A: Americans perception of Syria has changed. They are not as sad as the Syrian people because it is none of their concern. They are not Syrians, so they don’t know what it feels like. You can’t feel the same thing unless you have been through it.
Q: What do you plan to do after graduation?
A: I am in [my] fourth semester right now and I have my fifth, and my fifth is my thesis. I will be graduating in Spring 2014. I am looking for a job right now. I don’t know if I am going to be staying in Indiana or staying in the United States. I don’t know if the conflict will be over, hopefully, it will be.
Q: What do you hope to see in Syria’s future?
A: Usually, civil wars change the community. [The U.S. Civil War] changed things for the better. Hopefully, this civil war is for the better. People, when they do civil wars, they learn from them. I think people should learn from it and change for the better. And hopefully, the people who are in love with the country change it for the better. It is a dark tunnel, and Syria is going through that, but it is going to see the light soon.
Q: Do you think other countries can help solve the conflict?
A: The problem is everybody is confused about this. There are a lot of [political] parties going on there. No one should be involved. [Other countries] should stop going in and make Syrians solve their own problems. If foreigners keep coming to Syria from different countries, no, it’s not going to be solved.
Q: What should the international community do instead?
A: The international community can provide help with teachers, computers, food, giving them the chance to come to other countries to learn that would be one of the issues. Helping is not only by war. We are going to support this crisis by bombing this and shelling that, and sending ships and airstrikes — it can’t be solved like that.
Q: What else do you want students to know about Syria?
A: Syria is a beautiful country. Someday, when the war is over, you should definitely visit there. It is worth going there; it has beautiful nature, deserts. People there are generous, kind. They do love each other. There is something wrong going on right now, like a nightmare, which no one understands. People always have different opinions, conflicts. Families have conflicts. So, I hope that war will be over like any other child who is 10 years old [hopes].
