From the 15th – 21st of June, Refugee Week is being held in coordination with Scottish Refugee Council and this year the theme is ‘celebrate.’
As the website says: ‘we’re celebrating not only the contributions refugees make to our communities and cultural life, but also that Scotland offers a place of sanctuary where people fleeing conflict and persecution can rebuild their lives in safety: something we can all be proud of.’ Glasgow Women’s Library is also involved and here’s one of the many reasons why:
“Everyone in this room has a story to tell.” That was how Remzije Sherifi began her introduction when she came along to Story Café at the Women’s Library. Remzije, or Rema as she’s known, is a Kosovan refugee who was forced to flee her home country in the late 90’s in the midst of a war between Albanian’s and Serbian’s.
At first, she was reluctant to leave her homeland but she visited her mother who begged her to go, so, Rema, her husband and three teenage boys fled and it wasn’t until they were on a plane that they were told they were going to Scotland. Her first thoughts when she heard the word ‘Scotland’, she told the GWL audience, were “bagpipes, then football, Celtic and Rangers and also whiskey because my husband likes it.”
Rema wrote a book about her experiences in Kosovo and arriving in Glasgow – ‘Shadow behind the Sun’ – which tells the story of her life in her homeland and why she came to live here. She worked as a journalist for Radio Gjilan but lost her job and almost her life when the Milosevic regime’s grip tightened on the Albanian people.
Turning point
Rema read extracts from her book and in one she tells us about her and her family sitting in their kitchen at home when they could hear the sound of tanks approaching. One of her sons had just got back in the house moments before the tanks came: if he hadn’t arrived home when he did, he could’ve lost his life. That’s when she realised she had to go.
She and her family were taken to Macedonia and placed in a refugee camp before being evacuated from there on medical grounds; Rema was suffering from breast cancer and had been in remission but it had returned. She also told us that her sister, who had been her role model, was also suffering from cancer but by the time she got help in Serbia it was too late to save her.
“Landing at Prestwick Airport”, Rema explained, “The people of Glasgow were there to welcome us, even though we couldn’t speak English.” Her account of what she saw in her homeland is graphic and it’s clear that, even today, her memory of those events is still fresh.
Now she lives in the Garnethill area, is development coordinator at the Maryhill integration network, where she works with three members of staff and sixty volunteers. They offer a wide range of activities for everyone, including young people, to help integrate the diverse community. Before coming across the network, Rema ran activities for children and Kosovan women in Red Road flats; there were small craft and dance classes to help keep the spirits up of those who had been evacuated from their homes.
Inspirational
She also volunteered for various charities across Glasgow. Rema has many achievements under her belt; its not surprising that she was named ‘Woman of the Year’ at the Migrant and Refugee awards in 2013. She is a survivor and an inspiration to all women around the world.
At the end of the event, we were asked to fill out an evaluation sheet where one of the questions asks how you felt about the event. Well, I felt both happy and sad: happy that I attended the event and met Rema but sad to hear of her experiences and what she had to witness in her own country, sad that she and her family had been forced out of their own homes.
As she finished reading the extracts from her book, Rema quoted something that Mother Theresa had said “I belong to the world” or in Rema’s own words “I belong to Glasgow”.
Story Café is on at Glasgow Women’s Library every Thursday from 12.30pm-2.30pm.
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