Earthlings, are you Syrious? I Lejla Juranic I TEDxZagrebWomen

Poverty, wars, refugees - there's a lot of trouble in the world and they are such a burden that we feel, if we tried something, they would overwhelm us with their gravity. But sometimes, when we look at them from afar, the desire to help other human beings is so strong that we cannot stop it.

Are You Syrious? is a story about such a desire born in the wake of a humanitarian crisis in the fall of 2015. that starts with words told to a husband - "Let's do something!". From bags with clothes, to buses and vans and trucks, from a Facebook profile to a credible source of information for Le Monde, Al Jazeera, BBC and Washington post, Are You Syrious? is a story about the unsatiable desire of humans to help and give dignity to other humans.

When you see a short, blue-eyed blonde, you'd think there's nothing more innocent in this world, an angel. But she's the devil that made her own husband to write her bio, because she has more important things to do: like save the world as the founder of Are You Syrious?, bring in the bacon for a five member family with a degree in chemistry and being a co-founder to a company for lab equipment maintenance, or baking the best chocolate cake for the birthday party.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Thinking about how it all started

and the beginnings
of what brought me here today,

I realised it happened
because of my biggest fault:

I never plan anything in my life.

I am walking chaos

which my husband Luka is trying
to put in some sort of order.

So, this was the chaos,

and this is my husband Luka.

There are moments in life
when you need to make plans,

just as at one point we had to start
planning in Are You Syrious,

or we would have fallen apart.

But there are times, and this was one,

when you have to react
immediately from the heart.

What is there to think about
when you need to feed the hungry,

put clothes on their back,
give them information,

and, most importantly, love.

What prompted me to start doing something

was when in mid-August last year

my father suggested
we host a Syrian family

in a vacant property we had.

I started asking around,
but got no reply.

Everyone was just writing
sad posts, posting sad statuses,

but no one was taking any action.

At that time, the route
did not pass through Croatia,

but I couldn't bear to watch
what was happening.

I told Luka we had to do something,

we couldn't just sit and watch
what was going on around us.

I posted on Facebook that we
were collecting donations in our garage

and a few days later,
our garage was full of donations

and they were spilling over into our flat.

People we had never seen before
started arriving,

and our friends spent hours
in front of our garage,

sorting and packing clothes for the field.

I often say "we"

because none of this would have happened

if it had not been for us: Luka, myself,

and all the wonderful people who decided
to do something just as we had done.

I borrowed our first van
from my company,

filled it with donations

and set out with my dear friend Selma.

Our first encounter with refugees
was at the Serbian-Hungarian border

where we met
thousands of people in a field

with no electricity, water,

or any official organised help

and with only a handful
of volunteers to help them.

The scene was truly horrendous.

We did what we could to help,
but it amounted to almost nothing.

On the way back,
we stopped at a gas staton

and looking in the direction
of the forest near the motorway,

we saw a family of eight,
with a baby in their arms,

frantically running around.

We approached them
and asked if we could help.

They said a man had taken 1500 Euros

to take them from Szeged to Budapest,

which is a distance
of around 170 kilometres.

He told them to hide in the bushes
while he was at the gas station,

but he didn't come back.

Our logical reaction
was to tell them to get in

and we would take them to Budapest,

where they could take a train to Austria.

Five minutes after we set out,

there was a deathly silence.

We were terrified
that they had suffocated.

But they were so exhausted,
they had fallen asleep.

The lovely little baby,
Rahaf, had also fallen asleep.

That was certainly the longest
100 kilometres in my life.

We reached a place outside Budapest

and stopped at a hotel
because they just wanted to rest,

but as soon as they
saw us they threw us out,

shouting they didn't want any refugees.

Along the way, we met other families

sitting outdoors drinking tea

because they were not allowed
inside the restaurant

to drink their tea there

even though they had paid
for it just as we had done.

We managed somehow
to reach Budapest, avoiding the police.

This is the tarpaulin they hid under.

We reached the train station
and got them on the train.

That was when I realised
we could do more to help.

It was a feeling I simply couldn't ignore.

The trigger that marked
the transformation from a single action

into a movement
we called "Are You Syrious?"

It was a humanitarian concert

which we organised, as it happened,

on the day that Hungary
closed its borders.

We got a call from
the wonderful Denis Katanec

who said he wanted to sing, and that
there were others who wanted to help.

In only ten days,
Luka organised a concert

and Vid Jeraj gave it its name.

Everyone who worked on the concert:

the people receiving donations,

the security personnel,
cloakroom attendants,

sound technicians, musicians,
they were all volunteers,

and some of them
are still in Are You Syrious?

We realised this had outgrown our garage

and started organising shifts
for receiving and sorting donations.

The next day I called the Red Cross
and the Centre for Peace Studies

to offer our help

but they obviously
didn't take me seriously.

That was the first time I said
I was from Are You Syrious?

What was Are You Syrious?

I had unconsciously
given a name to an action,

an idea, an organisation, a movement.

Two days after the concert,

I loaded food into the car

and drove to Tovarnik

because at that point
the route had shifted to Croatia.

I arrived in Tovarnik,
said, "Hello," to the policemen

and at that point,
the four thousand people

who were standing nearby
surrounded by police

broke through the cordon
and started running towards us.

A policeman turned to me and said,

"Madam, they'll devour you,
but we will help you."

They made a circle around the car

and helped me
distribute food and beverages.

The let me bring more.

What I saw then,

I saw throughout
the refugee crisis in Croatia:

The police showed
that they were not just officers,

but also human beings.

There was still no
organised official help in Tovarnik

and it became clear to me
we had to organise a serious campaign.

I went to Luka and said,
"You have to go to the field!

They need serious help
there and only you can do it."

He put a post on Facebook,
gathered a team,

and they were there in a jiffy.

Bapska, a village
on the Croatian-Serbian border,

has a special place
in the story of Are You Syrious?

This was the first place we had
a serious presence on the ground

where our volunteers stayed
in shifts, 24/7, for almost a month.

At that time all the refugees
passing through Croatia

passed through Bapska on their way
to the official camp in Opatovac.

We are talking about
5,000 - 7,000 people a day,

whom the volunteers clothed, fed,

comforted, and provided
with much-needed information.

The volunteers slept
in the field, all in one tent,

and some did not sleep for days on end.

They worked 48-hour shifts
without stopping.

Bapska taught us much about the stories
of the refugees and their truth,

much about ourselves
and about what was needed.

We became convinced we could do
everything others were doing, if not more.

That was when individual volunteers

from Croatia and abroad
started joining us.

Then it went on - camps and especially
informal border crossings

through which hundreds of thousands
of people were passing: Mohovo, Bregana,

Šentilj, Ključ Brdovečki/Rigonce,
Dobova, Hamica...

Amid this chaos our 15-year-old son
packed a bag and went to the field.

He went to the
Serbian-Croatian border on his own

and came back so ill,
he ended up in hospital.

But this didn't stop him
and when he got out,

he spent his nights in the field,
even though he had school in the morning.

It seemed quite normal to see my husband
come home in the middle of the night

with a batch of razor wire in his hand,
the next morning go with him to a festival

we had organised to collect donations.

We were crazy enough
to gain access to no man's land

where no one else had gone before us.

After a week, we had to leave,
but the situation there improved

which showed us that sometimes

it's enough to be there
for things to change.

For months after this,
hard-working AYS volunteers

were busy cleaning the camp in Dobova

where the conditions were unfit
for the people arriving there

who were often rejected.

We patrolled the roads and followed buses

because the authorities
often transported refugees

to informal border crossings
where no help was available.

In mid-winter, people
were arriving in flip-flops,

children without socks or only in socks,

babies in just bodysuits, and worse.

We learned that in the field
you can't plan anything

You make a plan
and two hours later, it's useless.

Field work has to be guerrilla work
and it doesn't bear plans

but requires flexible
and resourceful people

for whom nothing is too hard.

Who if you call them
in the middle of the night,

in winter, and say help is needed,
get up, get dressed,

go to the nearest open store,

buy 100 kg of bananas
or whatever else is needed,

and go to the field.

When you're doing something like this,

you realize that what
is happening in reality

and what is presented in the media
are two completely different stories.

Does the general public know why
there were initially more men than women?

Probably not.

Because the man of the family
went ahead on this difficult journey

so that when he was granted asylum,

he would have the right to bring
his family over to safety.

And another reason was that in the chaos
in Syria they didn't see who to fight for,

for which of the world powers playing
games with the fate of their country.

In parallel with
all this work in the field,

I was going through a real drama
coordinating all this.

Luka was spending
more and more time in the field,

my life was getting more chaotic
with three children and my job

which I couldn't keep up with,

and I am grateful to my partners
for being so understanding.

I slept for only a few hours
a day, never in one stretch

as there was no difference
between day and night.

We realised that the only
possible response to this situation

was a 360° approach.

You can't go to the field
if you have nothing to distribute,

and you can't distribute things if
you don't know to whom, what, and where.

These are our warehouses.

We changed warehouses
and we got them all for free.

We drove donated vans,
and bought only what we had to.

We received a donation
of 1,000 pairs of shoes

from a Croatian entrepreneur.

The shoes were quite dressy,

not something you'd wear
for walking through muddy fields,

but the refugees
wore them with a big smile

because they were much better
than the flip-flops they had arrived in.

In this period I was probably
getting on the volunteers' nerves

because I kept badgering
them to send me information.

Our dear volunteer Vlasta once
said to me, "You're a pain in the butt.

Stop bothering me, I don't have time
for all this in the field."

But I didn't give up on
gathering and sharing information,

and all this time we continued networking,
which later proved to be very important.

Luka and I had terrible rows.

He would say to me, "Who do you think
you are? What do you imagine you can do?"

"We can't go on living like this."

After those two months, I told you about,

he said, "OK, sit down and tell me
the things you're doing

and I'll write it all down."

The result was 26 people, a minimum
of 26 people in the coordination team

for everything to function 24/7.

These are some of the groups
we set up, which are still with us today.

I advertised and I will never forget
the people who responded

when we were at breaking point and I was
deciding whether to go on or give up;

give up because I would
collapse, which actually happened.

I had a minor stroke but
I am all right now, as you can see.

I would like to mention all the people
who responded to my call: Asja, Magda,

Milena, Emir, Petar, Zvone,

the Jasnas, the Sanjas, Krešo...

I'll probably forget someone,
but they know very well who they are,

because they hold a special place
in the story of Are You Syrious?

But all the volunteers who came later

also contributed to the evolving story
of Are You Syrious? and where we are now.

My gathering and sharing
of information finally came into its own

when Milka arrived with her team
and developed it to perfection.

The Daiy Digest grew into the now
famous Are You Syrious Daily News Digest

the only uncensored daily news covering
the refugee route from Syria to Norway

which is quoted by well-known world media
such as the Washington Post, the BBC,

Le Monde, and many others,

and is read by refugees,
volunteers, and everyone on the route

because they consider it the only
reliable source of information.

Along with the volunteers in the field,
who perform the so-called "sexy" jobs,

a great strength of AYS are the people
working in dark warehouses,

doing night shifts at their computers

gathering and sharing information
which will be of use to others.

Imagine what it's like when
a message arrives in the inbox

saying that smugglers
are holding refugees hostage

or that a boat full of people
is sinking and they need urgent help.

Imagine the stress volunteers
face every day in their lives.

But they don't give up. They go on.

And when all the people are saved,
imagine the joy of the whole AYS family.

However much we plan, we have had
some unforeseeable situations.

For example when Luka, after one of those
rows when he said we couldn't go on

came home one evening
with Samuel from Nigeria,

who hadn't been allowed
across the Slovenian border

because he was black.

Samuel is still with us,
a little more than a year later.

He has become part of our family.
Our children adore him.

Samuel plays soccer
and is desperate to stay in Croatia,

which he has come to love
with all his big, naive, childlike heart.

Sadly, this state does not want Samuel,
but we are still fighting to keep him.

Samuel is not the only one.

Right now there are
almost 1,000 people in Croatia

who, like a million others, come
from war-torn areas of the world

seeking international protection.

Did you know that the
full name of Are You Syrious

is Zemljani (Earthlings)
- Are You Syrious?

As earthlings we wanted to show what it is
we believe in and what we're fighting for,

which is life without
borders and false divisions

because all of us are just
ordinary, commonplace, wonderful,

insignificant, magnificent people.

From early September last year to today

AYS volunteers have helped in
many countries on the refugee route.

We have gained the confidence
of people everywhere in the world.

We've had donors and volunteers
from all over the world.

We've delivered tons of aid
to various countries on the refugee route.

We've organised humanitarian drives,
concerts, created a brand.

We've been supported by many artists
who organised humanitarian events

on their own initiative
in order to help us.

We rebuilt a camp in Syria
which was destroyed by shelling

which houses mostly
women, children, and the elderly

who lack even the means
to cross the border.

AYS volunteers help
asylum seekers to integrate.

We left our comfort zone and got
to know people from all parts of the world

with different
occupations and life stories,

but the most important experience
was being united around an idea

and being able to value and embrace
someone completely, totally different.

They told us we were
neglecting our children,

that this was no way to live,

but our children have experienced
what they wouldn't have in a million years

living in this insular
and conservative society.

Each volunteer brought
something of their own into this story

There are now about 50 volunteers
working in the organization.

We see what we are doing
as supremely patriotic,

because we are presenting
our country as a country of good people

which it was before it became
a land of "great warriors."

It used to be a land of good people
and good hosts who help those in trouble.

We once got a message saying their people
would remember what we did for them

for as long as their children were alive.

What we did and what we are doing,
and what we feel while we are doing it,

that's what it means to be Syrious.

To be Syrious means to help, with the will
and without fear, anyone who needs help,

whether it be refugees in a park,
in a field, or in a camp,

asylum seekers or people not seeking
asylum and everyone passing through.

We'll go on for as long as we are needed,

and our main goal is not to be needed
any more and to cease to exist.

Looking back on everything
I've told you about today

I don't think I've done
anything spectacular,

anything that any one of us couldn't do

if we only make the decision and have
the courage to carry it through.

This is proven by all the AYS volunteers

to whom I send hugs, and to all volunteers
and refugees, displaced people,

migrants, people without a home,
without freedom, without peace.

Earthlings, let's be Syrious!

(Applause)