What about this book surprised you? Did you learn anything about the Syrian refugee crisis that you hadn't previously read in news stories?

What about this book surprised you? Did you learn anything about the Syrian refugee crisis that you hadn't previously read in news stories?

It was really an eye opener to follow the agonies of the day to day journey. We hear of them fleeing Syria, see little glimpses of refugee camps, but don’t see the reality of how they have to survive each day.

I have to agree with lindac that the daily struggle was an eye-opener. I read today that now in it's 10th year the Syrian refugee crisis is the largest refugee and displacement crisis in our time.

I am just always surprised at the resilience of humans to endure what they must to get to a place of peace. It is so sad that there isn’t an easier way.. but people will do anything , and often lose their lives, trying to find a better place for themselves and their families.

From the book and the author’s experiences I learned more about the work done in Greece to help the refugees. I learned how political it was to get to escape and how important money was to ease the way.

Even though I knew refuges had a difficult time, this book surprised me with the details. The book's details and characters made it all real and tangible.

This book inspired me to research the war in Syria-one I realize now that I had very little understanding of in the first place. I was horrified to learn how a noble protest escalated and turned into a violent civil war. I was unaware that young boys were murdered or disappeared.

Given the length of the war and the overwhelming number of refugees leaving Syria (and other countries in the Middle East), I was horrified to learn about the day to day living in refugee camps. Don't get me wrong. I was certainly not expecting a Holiday Inn, but I thought there would be more NGO's, volunteers, or services offered in the camps. It was unclear where refugees were eating and bathing. Why were children deposited in camps alone? Who was providing information to the refugees? How is a person in crisis, suffering from PTSD supposed to navigate this process on his/her own?

It seems our world has had plenty of experience dealing with displacement that we would have a better, more organized system in place by now.