Unbeknown to most, I am in fact half Syrian and spent many years of my childhood growing up in Damascus. I never knew that when boarding a plane in my teens, it would be the last time I would see Syria as I would know it. Over the last few years I’ve felt completely helpless and unable to make any sort of real impact. When I heard about ‘Syria to the 6’ I knew I had to get involved. The refugee families risking their lives could have easily been our closest family friends, our neighbours, or even us. ‘Syria to the 6’ has given me the opportunity to put my heart and soul into the initiative, and make a difference in a family’s lives.
Caroline Pandeli is a prop stylist and set designer for film and print. She immigrated to Canada during the Gulf War, and after returning for university, has called Toronto home for the last eleven years.