The eyes of the Syrian refugee children spoke of nothing more than joy and innocence during the opening ceremony of Tina Manley’s photography exhibit “Putting a Face on Syria: Hope Through Education,” last Thursday evening.
The photos of the children lined the walls at the Lewandowski Student Gallery in McLaurin Hall, each one with a brighter and bigger smile than the last. Their faces are new to the visitors, but they’re story is one that has been told since the civil war erupted in Syria nearly seven years ago.
An ongoing war
The war in Syria sees many different parties fighting for power, for a new regime. Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s way of governing has caused a divide in the community between the soldiers and citizens that support his regime and the rebels who would like to see a new leader. The chaos and strife within the country has only increased over time with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) becoming involved in the fight for power.
The Syrian people have seen their homes destroyed, their families left behind, their livelihood left in shambles. Many have been forced to flee the country due to fear, becoming refugees within surrounding countries and even in their own home of Syria.
The photographer’s challenge
Manley has been a photographer for over 40 years, photographing over 70 countries and the people and children that call them home. Having lived in Iran for around two years, Manley was interested in the middle east and the current issues they were facing.
“We had always been interested in the middle east and what’s going on there, Syria especially. It’s such a problem and the problem of the kids, the refugee kids, not having any possibility for education,” she said.
Through the Presbytery church, Manley partnered with the Syria Lebanon Partnership Network whose aim was to give refugee children in Syria and Lebanon the chance at receiving an education through creating schools. Upon her visit to Syria and Lebanon, Manley found what were once middle class families now calling tents their home and children with little hope of receiving an education. She remembers a family she met in Turkey, begging for food on the streets with a sign that read “Please help us, Syrian refugees.”
“We had a translator with us and they talked to us…the father had been an engineer, the mother had been a teacher and there they were in Turkey, begging with their kids on the street,” she said. “All they want to do is be able to go back home and the schools we’re supporting—in Lebanon they teach in french and arabic, in Syria they teach in english and arabic— and they’re using the Syrian curriculum so the kids can go back home someday. That’s all they want to do.”
Manley’s photos tell the story, not of children torn down by their circumstances, but rather children who have nothing but joy in their hearts and hope for the future. Manley hopes that through her photographs and the help of multiple sponsors and partners that the children will be given the chance at something more.
“My artist statement has always been that the people of the world are all more alike than they are different and I hope that people will look at these kids and think ‘that could be my kid, that’s not just a Syrian refugee, that’s a child who needs an education,” she said.
Manley’s photographs are available for sale, along with note cards and calendars. One-hundred percent of the proceeds will go toward tuition, school supplies, transportation and food in order to help with the education effort.
For more information on the Syrian project, visit www.pbase.com/tinamanley/syria
Manley’s work has been published in National Geographic, The Charlotte Observer, The Boston Globe, along with many other magazines and newspapers. Her work can be found at www.tinamanley.com
Manley will also be giving a lecture “The Syrian Crisis: Seven Years and Counting,” on Friday, Sept. 14 at 6 p.m. in Owens G-02.
