Afrini refugee’s dream turned into online library
Though her childhood dream to open a library was tied to her home city of Afrin, northwestern Syria, which witnessed the first signs of her passion for books, 20-year-old Enji Shahlwand Hussein is satisfied with her achievement even if it was online.
Migration, learning the language of the country of asylum, completing studies, and being in touch with family and friends at home did not allow her to forget about the ambition to be the first girl to open a library in Afrin, and she is now reading books to overcome the feelings of alienation and sorrow since her arrival in France years ago.
The idea emerged when a lockdown began all over the world to combat coronavirus, when several initiatives were launched to urge people to stay at home. For Enji, books were like a drug to cope with the cruel reality of life, and she dreamed of sharing this passion with others, especially people of her city who have suffered so much recently.
“I worked on the idea of the website, designed it, wrote summaries, arranged the books list, contacted publishing houses, and within two months I launched the website,” she said.
That youth are abandoning writing and reading was another motive for her to launch the online library, “to empower reading culture among all age groups, especially among youth, and through reading initiatives presented in the website, we can urge them to read.”
When you enter the ENJI-Bookstore, you are welcomed by the phrase ‘Change your thoughts, change your life,” a slogan from a book title of the famous American writer Wayne Dyer. Then, you see books in Arabic and Kurdish; newly-rated books including literature, science, history, and human development.
“My aim is not financial, but to urge youth to seek knowledge and science that will save us from ignorance and deteriorating situation in our country for years, and I aspire to a beautiful future, as I want Afrin to be proud of me and its other youth," she added.
She finished her intermediate studies in Syria, and immigrated to France on invitation from her uncle, who lives in France and has French nationality. “The way I came was easy compared to others, but my beginnings in France were very difficult and unfortunately, I was not lucky."
“I studied the tenth grade here and entered professional school without learning the language, because there are not schools for language teaching here, which is the opposite of other countries. I felt that the school did not suit me, so I dropped out,” she mentioned.
Hussein entered a university for foreigners who came to France, learnt French, and started to learn German. She never surrendered to the many obstacles that she faced and delayed her studies, because she believed that “an obstacle is an experience through which I learn and fulfil progress.”
The young girl is working to fill her online library with more new books and realize her dream of becoming a library owner, because she believes that the most important thing is to achieve the end, not the means. However, she adds, “in the future, I can achieve my bigger dream to become a library owner on the ground.”
Enji buys books from publishing houses to sends them to customers, while the library site remains to display books with a glimpse of the content.
When you visit the website of the library, you read:
“As a 20-year-old, she did not want to be the same,
she would have drowned
if she had not built a ship of books for her
to save her from the depths
and sail on an eternal journey.”
(Reporting by Sarbast Hasan, editing by Lucas Chapman)