I learned of the existence of Yarmouk’s legendary piano when I visited the Yarmouk refugee camp last year for the 1st time.

The refugees of Yarmouk, whose population once exceeded 250.000 habitants, dwindled throughout the Syrian civil war to 12.000. Yarmouk’s people have been under siege since 3 years, it’s residents are deprived of food, water, electricity and medical supplies. The suffering they have endured in the camp is reflected in the voices I have heard during my first visits to the camp- See more here:

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/pictures-life-and-death-yarmouk-992435842

Another important voice I heard inside the camp is  the one of the incredibly talented musician Ayham Ahmad who played resistance songs and gave people hope during this deadly siege. But then 'evil fighters' infiltrated the camp, told him that 'music is a sin’, poured petrol on his piano, set it alight and theatened to kill him. That's when Ayham realized that he could no longer stay in Syria, that he had to get his family to safety.

Ayham is now part of the Syrian refugee crisis, he’s trying to make his way to Germany.

The pianist has been sharing his "Dairies Of a Traveller In The Sea" on his Facebook:

"I went out with my wife and my kids... but my parents refused to leave the camp.
I went out of the camp to Damascus and it was the first time for me to make music out of the siege.
I met my best friends.... we used to meet everyday before the siege in Yarmouk camp.
And then I continued the journey to Homs and I paid a lot of money to get from Damascus to north Hamah but after that I was arrested for three days with my wife and my kids for the guilt of trying to travel in an illegal way.
The court in Homs gave me a paper of release ."

‘Boats of death’:

“I went from Antioch to Izmir and the situation was terrible, the people were sleeping in the streets and their blankets were just the sky, cause the hotels were very expensive it costs 30 turkish pounds almost 15 US Dollars, per person for each night, and no one like us just got out of a war zone can afford that !, so we took the streets as shelters for our night, and here i met the smugglers who are shipping the people to greece with an unbelievable way using a tiny plastic boat, the percentage of the people that under risk of drowning is 30 %."

'The smuggler':

I got to know a smuggler named Abu Mohammed, and he seemed as a good religious man or a man of morals if i could say so !, so i felt safer that he will never play games, or cheat us, but he was just like the other smugglers all he care about is the money, he took us to a flat where we can stay until it is time to leave, no human could ever live in that flat, a really bad flat, it was so crowded, like the whole humanity was in there, 40 people in each room, the situation was really miserable”

Ayham's only wish now is to reach Germany and start a new life with his family and continue spreading hope and peace through his music .

After being inundated by requests from supporters from all over the world, I decided to start this fundraiser campaign - although he refused. I am confident that we can reach this goal together and help Ayham pushing out messages of hope and peace from Europe to his people who remain trapped inside the Yarmouk refugee camp.

Laila Ben Allal is a Belgian-Moroccan multimedia journalist based in Luxembourg, she has visited the Yarmouk refugee camp several times. She is currently working on a book where she combines portraits, testimonials, cultural details and history to highlight the plight of Palestine refugees in Yarmouk.