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Jabir creates a character who is attached to no one and everyone at the same time. His survival includes blending fact and fiction, experience and hearsay, creating and establishing a story to set him free.

The protagonist’s love of storytelling has helped him achieve his goals as he churns out tales for all those who will listen. He endures much of the same wherever he goes, but his goal of escape has never changed. But survival is tough and “sometimes survival is more to do with breaking others down than with keeping oneself out of harm’s way.” While Dawit suffers, he makes others suffer as he moves into his future, blending his past and present. He lies to officials and eavesdrops on good advice, all of which he has been doing since he left Eritrea. After having arrived from Endabaguna refugee camp in Ethiopia, Dawit is looking for resettlement in Europe.Īlways looking for the path with the least obstacles, and willing to do whatever it takes to reach his goal, Dawit befriends those who can further his journey. The group is Beta Israel, but Dawit is an imposter. The man in seat number 37 on the fourth bus is known as Dawit, and he and his fellow travelers are on their way to Israel from Gondar camp. A five bus convoy escorted by police cars is making its way from Meskel Square to the airport. Jabir’s story begins in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on a chilly December day. Translated from Arabic into English by a powerhouse duo Sawad Hussain and Marcia Lynx Qualey, readers are immersed in a world of deception, desire, and survival. His journey leads him from Eritrea, to Ethiopia, to Israel where he continuously changes identities to survive.

But when he tries to settle down and secure a future, trouble finds him. Dawoud, sometimes known as David, and to others as Dawit, must find his place in the world because he has never belonged. Next week, he and his team will leave for a two-week trip to Iraq and Syria, where they will collaborate with their local networks on music-therapy initiatives.ĬHICAGO: Translated into English in 2023 and longlisted for the 2019 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, “Black Foam” is by award-winning author and journalist Haji Jabir. They speak the language and know the cultural context the best,” Dols said. Training local community-builders is the key element in the organization’s approach of developing music-education programs aimed at bringing change to the humanitarian field. Thus, the intention is not to ask “how do you feel,” but rather to “playfully express what’s going on inside you.” “Using music is a way to express yourself when you can’t find the words to do so,” said Dols. “Music changes the world because it changes people,” is the organization’s ethos, with a belief that music can serve as a coping mechanism and has the power to channel even the most complex emotions.Ĭonsequently, the emphasis is on using sounds as opposed to words.

Sounds of Change focuses on Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Turkiye, Iraq and Palestine. Starting with his own project of creating music in a Jordanian refugee camp in 2012, the organization now uses music to enable social change and stimulate creativity, connection, trust and empowerment in refugee camps and marginalized areas in the Middle East and North Africa. Prompted by the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011 and a sense of helplessness, he felt the need to take action. This way, Dyar’s music is more relatable to those in the Netherlands and broader Western audiences, he added.ĭols also founded the organization Sounds of Change in 2017. In their song “Autumn Nights,” Altaky sings about the mountains of As-Suwayda in southwestern Syria, reminiscing about his Arab roots.ĭols adds the bass instrument, which he said is not typically found in traditional Arabic music. Music has no miscommunication,” Altaky told a Dutch broadcaster.ĭuring the performance, Almaghoot emphasized Dyar’s aim to raise awareness for oppressed people worldwide. “I can travel anywhere in the world without speaking the language because with music, you touch people directly in the heart. Growing up in different worlds, Dols and the three other Syrian band members - vocalist and oud player Nawras Altaky, percussionist Modar Salama and clarinetist Ghaeth Almaghoot - found a deep connection by sharing their love for music.