A New Normal - Audio Diaries from Syrians in Europe

Dr Ahmad Terkawi and I first met in November 2016 when I recorded an interview with him for BBC Radio 4's Short Cuts programme. He and his young family had fled Syria and finally reached Sweden where they were living together in a single room in a refugee hostel in Oxelösund.

For the next year, Ahmad recorded audio diaries which I helped edit together for an episode of A New Normal. A New Normal is a series of podcasts featuring the audio diaries of five Syrians as they attempt to lay down roots in their countries of asylum. They are made by various audio producers for SE15 Productions.

Through Ahmad's diaries we hear of the endless paperwork that the family faces in settling, of their being relocated to a far away town without any prior notice, and of the highs and unpredictable lows of starting a new school in a new land.

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Photo: Ahmad and his family, Sweden, 2016