A charity founder and Syrian refugee has said beekeeping helps refugees to “break connection with any trauma”.
Ali Alzein started Bees & Refugees to save the native British black bee from extinction as well as foster “a sense of belonging in the UK’s refugee communities” by providing therapeutic workshops and a Build-Your-Own-Beehive project.
“(With beekeeping) you’re looking at something so different from anything that you’ve seen… I think that breaks the connection with any trauma that you’ve had in the past,”According to the PA news agency, the 36-year-old said.
Alzein claimed that the benefits of beekeeping can help refugees and asylum seekers settle in the UK.
“The people I worked with, I think it was really comforting for them to work on something where they didn’t feel that they need to speak a language they feel insecure about,”He stated.
“When you learn beekeeping, you’re working with the bees – you don’t need to speak to anyone… You can just be.”
Mohammed, a Syrian refugee who kept bees before fleeing Syria said: “When I came to the UK I was homesick… This is the first time I feel happy after I left Syria 10 years ago.”
Mr Alzein left Syria in 2014 and began balancing work in London’s fashion industry with his time volunteering at refugee camps.
“I decided to quit my job (in the fashion industry) shortly after I realised that keeping bees was helping me with my mental health a lot,”He explained.
“It was really tiring for me to jump from the luxury fashion world in Harrods where I worked to go back and volunteer in refugee camps… And seeing these opposite worlds were causing me more stress.”
You sort of forget about the root cause of your trauma, and don’t even think about it when you work with the bees.
Bees & Refugees crowdfunded nearly £14,000 in 2020 before receiving funding to distribute beehives to community gardens and spaces across the capital.
It now has 36 hives across the UK and has helped over 80 asylum seekers and refugees to feel at home here.
Alzein described the positive effects beekeeping has on his health by describing the humming of the honeybees.
“The buzz becomes a melody… It happens to me whenever I’m around the bees, it’s like you don’t think of anything else because they’re so breathtaking,”He stated.
“I guess you kind of disconnect from the source of your trauma and you don’t think about it while you’re working with the bees… It’s lovely.”
Now the charity employs 25-35 volunteers to help refugees and schools all over the country.
They aim to raise enough money to hire full-time staff members and convert a van into an observation hive on the move, providing workshops for refugees in remote areas.
“If it wasn’t for this project, especially during these last two years, I think I would have probably given up on my life here… I would have decided to just return to Syria (and) face whatever is waiting for me there,” Mr Alzein said.
“The more you learn about how (bees) live together and how they work together, the more fascinated you become… It’s so incredible.”
To donate to Bees & Refugees, go to: beesandrefugees.org.uk