Immigrants Preserve Syria's Rich History
When Syrian immigrant Khaldoun Alghatrif's daughter was nine months old, he searched for the right memento to mark her birth. He found it online, part of a poem on the side of a set of ceramic coffee cups. In flowing Arabic calligraphy, one of the cups said, "Her name is Shaam" — the Arabic name for the city of Damascus. Along with the other two cups, the set read: "She is beautiful." "I love her." "Her name is Shaam." The poem was an ode to the city before Syria's devastating war.
Alghatrif derived something else from those cups — inspiration to start a business promoting Syrian artisans.
"We wanted to start showing America the other face of Syria, the beautiful face of Syria, something they don't see in the news," Alghatrif said. Today, Syriana Café and Gallery in Ellicott City, Maryland, features the cups and sells other Syrian heritage handicrafts — exotic mosaic works, mother of pearl inlays, Damask textiles and brocade silk.
The gallery has two missions — preserving Syrian heritage and supporting artisans by establishing a market for their products.
"Artisans work in the tourism industry mainly, and with a lack of tourism, there is no prospects for making the living," he said.
Recently, the Alghatrifs have expanded their Syrian cultural experience by adding food. Syrian coffee traditionally boiled in heated sands is a specialty.
"All of our recipes are homemade and Syrian, very authentic," Rasha Obaid, says. "And all of our workers in the kitchen are Syrian refugee women. I am trying to train them to work in the business environment here."
Gayle Killen lives nearby. “I love the rich ingredients. I love having authentic cuisine. And the artwork, the craftsmanship, is beautiful.”
The Alghatrifs plan to further expand by sponsoring workshops in Syria and in the U.S. to help Syrian artisans and refugees.
