War torn Daraya’s citizens return and rebuild their lives, homes in Syria

Once emptied by Syria’s war, Daraya is rising again. Once home to peaceful protest, brutal massacres, and total displacement, the city is now witnessing fragile steps toward renewal. Survivors like graffiti artist Bilal Shorba return to find murals still standing — echoes of resistance and memory. Families rebuild homes without walls, volunteers restore cemeteries, and local leaders fight to revive hospitals, water systems, and dignity. Daraya’s story is one of loss, defiance, remembrance — and the quiet determination to rebuild what was destroyed. #Daraya #Syria #SyrianWar #WarSurvivors #RebuildingSyria #CivilWar #HumanRights #HopeAfterWar #GraffitiArt #MemoryAndResistance #WarPhotography #PostConflict #SyriaStories #France24 #HistoryInTheMaking #SurvivorVoices #TruthAndJustice #MiddleEast #WarAndPeace #NeverForget 0:00 City of empty streets This is Syria’s Daraya, the only city that lost its entire population during the nearly 14-year civil war. The place occupies a special place in the story of the Syrian revolution. Only four miles from the capital Damascus and within sight of Assad's sprawling presidential palace, its people handed roses to the soldiers who were sent to quell their peaceful protests in March 2011. But they paid a heavy price for their defiance. At least 700 were killed in one of the worst massacres of the war in August 2012, when soldiers went from house to house executing anyone they found. This is Bilal Shorba who is both a witness and survivor of the brutal ordeal. 01:31 Art as survival During his free time amid the war, Shorba drew murals. He calls the survival of the murals “a victory.” Not a single one of Daraya’s 250,000 pre-war inhabitants was allowed to stay, and many were forced into exile. Shorba stayed in the city for three years, enduring the siege and the bombardment, eating weeds and wild herbs to survive, until he and the other fighters were evacuated with the remaining residents to the rebel-held northwest of Syria in August 2016. But the memories of the murals he painted never left him. 03:02 Taking back the walls He eventually made his way to neighbouring Turkey where he honed his art. There is much to do in Daraya now he's back. But Shorba wants to start by painting over the giant murals glorifying the Assad clan that still stare down from the walls. 03:35 Life among ruins Everyone in Syria talks of Daraya's indomitable spirit, its people long renowned for their get-up-and-go attitude. But how do you bring up a family in a city where 65 percent of buildings are destroyed -- according to a study by the Syrian American Engineers Association -- and another 14 percent are badly damaged? 04:24 Hospitals in dust There are power and water shortages, with only a quarter of the city's wells working. In some areas sewage overflows into the street. Now a volunteer in the city's civil administration, Lahham is keen to show that life goes on, even in the most precarious of circumstances. One family has moved back into an upper-storey apartment even though most of the outside walls are gone. 05:13 Honoring the dead None of Daraya's four hospitals are functioning. The city's National Hospital, which once served a million people, was bombed to bits in 2016. All that remains is its concrete shell overlooking the completely destroyed al-Khaleej district. Even its copper pipes and electricity cables were looted after Assad's forces took the city. The only real cover comes from a team from the charity Doctors Without Borders, who are committed to running the only medical centre until the end of the year. 06:01 Unmarked and unknown graves In the final days before Daraya fell in 2016, the last remaining fighters and activists tried to save the dignity of the dead. They took photos of the graves in the Cemetery of the Martyrs of all who had been massacred or killed during the siege, then removed the headstones in case they were desecrated by Assad's fighters. Thanks to the photos, they have been able to put up 421 new gravestones for those whose names were known. 06:53 Demanding justice forward 07:36 Rebuilding the home again 08:44 Hope for a better tomorrow Follow UCANews on the following handles TikTok:   / uca.news   Twitter:   / ucanews   Instagram:   / uca.news   Facebook:   / ucanews   Pinterest:   / ucanews   For news in and about the Church in Asia, visit https://www.ucanews.com/ Help us to produce more free content. Donate here: https://bit.ly/3oQ7dIw Track: Red Desert Track: Needle in a Haystack Track: The Secrets We Kept Track: Sarabande, Haendel Track: From the Suburbs by https://www.fiftysounds.com