6 Super Talented Syrian Refugees You'd Really Want As Your Friends

Thousands of Syrian refugees are making their way across Europe. But who are the people behind the TV pictures?

1. This dancer

Image: Yara Alhasbani / Via talkingsyria.com

Yara started learning ballet as a child, and by 18 she had danced her way into the academy at the Damascus Opera House. But after her father died, she started receiving threats and had to flee, first to Turkey, then Paris.

She says: "My father had dreamt of having a daughter so he could see her as a ballet dancer when she grew up. In Europe, I hope to show the world I am an Arab dancer, from the country of Syria, and make real the dreams of my father."

2. This basketball player

Images: Salah Hamwi / Via talkingsyria.com

Salah was 5 foot 6 by the time he was 10, so his choice of sport was obvious - basketball. By the time he was 17, he was playing at a national level. His team was half-Muslim, half-Christian, but he thought of them as family.

He says: "The situation was becoming unbearable. Most of my friends had left the country. Soon there was no one left. I found a job in Beirut, so I packed my bags. For the first time, I didn’t include my basketball kit."

3. This musician

Mark Menzies via Creative Commons licence / Via talkingsyria.com

This Syrian kid from Homs loved his piano so much he kept practising even when the bombs were falling. But eventually it got too dangerous, so he fled to Istanbul and became a street musician.

He says: "When I play the piano in my room in Istanbul it takes me to my room in Syria."

4. These film-makers

Via talkingsyria.com

Yasser and Rima were a young couple hanging out in Aleppo. But the situation got dangerous - Yasser's brother was killed by a bomb. So the couple fled first to Lebanon, and then Turkey. Now they're making documentaries about their experience.

Yasser says: "Some time ago, I watched a video made by a foreign tourist, who recorded half an hour of life in Aleppo in 2006. That video could be one of the most important documentaries about Aleppo. After the last few years, we notice all the details."

5. This cook

Krista via Creative Commons licence / Via talkingsyria.com

This mum's village was shelled, so she fled to Istanbul. She finds it hard to cope with the new life, so she comforts herself by cooking her traditional spinach pies.

She says: "I love my village because I was born there. I wonder now, if I should return to sit with the other women there, what sort of conversations would take place? A lot of them have lost someone they love. How can we talk about simple things again?”

6. This Artist

Image: Maher Abdo / Via talkingsyria.com

Maher Abdo left Syria after the war began and camped out in his friend's flat in Istanbul. Now he's holding down a job and trying to find a space to paint at the same time.

He says: "The thoughts of the artist needs to cross the border as well. But right now, the Syrian artist cannot cross the border to anywhere."