They shared their love with U2!


Their love story is one of the true love stories starring in the new video of the all-famous U2 band for their freshly released song “You’re the best thing about me“.

Who are they? Maha and Abdulrahman from Syria; SolidarityNow beneficiaries who have been living in the accommodation structure for refugees in the island of Tilos since February 2017. The couple has five beautiful children and they dream of settling down in Greece.

The filmmaker Tatia Pilieva and her team followed four real-life couples during the last 24 hours they had together before one partner had to leave for an extended period. One of these couples is Maha and Abdulrahman; this last one setting forth to work in Athens.

The two of them open their hearts to the camera:
– “Of course, I remember the first time my husband kissed me,” Maha says.
– “I gave her a kiss, here“, Abdulrahman confides and shows the edge of his lips.

Abdulrahman is a chef – and one of the best as his monicker in Syria suggests: “The King of falafel”. And if that isn’t enough, he proved it with his participation in the Refugee Food Festival, which was held for the first time in Athens on the initiative of the UNHCR, last June!

Watch him cooking, here

But now his wife Maha works too! Maha is currently an employed mother of five who works as a maid in a hotel in Tilos. What is more, the BBC tribute to the Tilos innovative hosting program implemented by SolidarityNow was based on Maha’s story and was presented internationally last July!

You can see the BBC tribute, here:

This couple of young and active people who fled war and came to Greece is an example of successful integration in the new social environment, which has embraced and safeguarded them. The true protagonists – life’s heroes, are now the protagonists for U2 also!

ESTIA, the Emergency Support to Integration and Accommodation program, is implemented by UNHCR and funded by European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO).