Dogs is a show on Netflix, which at first glance is seemingly about what the title states—dogs. However, when you start to actually watch the series, it goes into much more serious topics.
The second episode, “Bravo, Zeus”, is about a Syrian refugee, Ayham, who is currently residing in Berlin, Germany awaiting a reunion with his dog, Zeus. He is stuck in Syria for the time being with no way out.
“The war in Syria is far from over” the voice on the news says. “In fact, it’s renewing itself. There is a new government offensive south of Damascus. More airstrikes and more casualties” he continues.
Ayham opens a Google Drive where there are dozens of pictures and videos of a Siberian Husky. In the background of the videos, the roaring of the gunshots can be heard. Zeus is in that environment without Ayham and the focus of the documentary switches to how the two can be reunited.
“Dogs” has this fascinating way of framing real problems in a way that the public will care and want to watch. It makes the main focus of this journey about the dog going from Syria to Berlin. It does this in a clever way where the important details and bigger issues are wedged in so that it flows and stays interesting to viewers.
Ayham explains that when he was 20-years-old he had to flee Syria. He was in college and wanted to study web development. Through the Berlin Refugee Training Program, he is able to do so.
“I was lucky that I was able to come here” Ayham said. He explains that, Amer, his best friend, is still in Syria with Zeus.
Amer agreed to take care of Zeus now that Ayham is away. As Ayham feels remorseful about this arrangement, Amer wanted to watch over Zeus because otherwise, the dog would have been alone. As the bombing continues to worsen, Ayham is now feeling the urgency to leave.
Machine guns being fired, buildings in ruin, exploding bombs and people franticly running is what is shown over the text that reads, "Since the outbreak of war in 2011, an estimated 11 million Syrians have been displaced from their homes. Over 400,000 lives have been lost in the conflict.”
A large majority of Americans do not think about nor understand the Syrian refugee crisis. In January 2017, specific countries were banned from traveling to the United States—Syria was on that list. There are misconceptions placed upon refugees such that they are all extremists and bring violence with them. This negative connotation associated with them can lead to misunderstanding and false categorization.
“It was my only option to leave the country… then I had to say goodbye to my parents. And then I left,” Ayham said. If he would have stayed, the likelihood of him being drafted in the military was very high.
“We arrived to Turkey at one in the morning. We have to go and hide inside an abandoned building. You hear stories about organ selling, and people who might kill you. We really started to feel how dangerous it is” Ayham said. He explained that to continue on this unsafe journey, they had to assemble their transportation manually. They needed to blow up a boat, attach the engine and have someone learn in 10 minutes how to drive the boat. Then, a three hour ride to Greece.
Ayham went from Greece to Macedonia, to Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, to Austria, finally arriving in Germany.
Once he got there, he felt out of place and alone. Being looked at as different and pitied was not easy for him to deal with. “At some point, how they look at you, and how they treat you and how they think of you…You start to find new ways to hate yourself," he said.
Feeling detached from his support system makes him long for family. Unfortunately, they are still in Syria with no plans to leave. Ayham cannot travel to see them because those granted asylum lose the right to travel freely.
Zeus is the only family he has a chance at seeing again.
Ayham found an organization called "Animals Syria" through Facebook that brings animals from Syria to Europe. He explains that it could be difficult due to the roadblocks that may be encountered. But, suddenly there is hope.
Zeus is a light not only in Ayham's life but also Amer's.
Amer was drafted to join the army which is compared to a death sentence. He's hiding in Damascus for the time being
“What is keeping me here is Zeus. Children here love him… But in general, this isn’t the place for Zeus. When a bomb falls, he runs to my side. And when he hears bullets, he starts to bark in order to protect the house. Last time a bullet almost hit him. Since Ayham left, we agreed when Ayham settles there, Zeus is following,” Amer said.
Ayham meets with Rawa, the founder of Animals Syria. "The municipality there is... they keep poisoning them in the street, or they're shooting them. They put it all in the streets, they don't care," she said. Ayham explains that Zeus got poisoned twice and the second time he was barley rescued by Amer.
Rawa has a friend, Bishr, located in Syria who can transport Zeus to Lebanon. From there, she will be able to bring Zeus to Germany.
Originally, Amer was expected to bring Zeus from Syria to Lebanon. However, due to his situation with the military he is unable to leave. A former roommate of Ayham, Naji, has offered to assist because Zeus is also familiar with him.
“Me, Amer, Ayham, and Zeus, we were all best friends, always together. But, then there was a lot of stress. The best solution was that we could leave the country, one by one. Zeus is traveling soon. Whoever had a chance left already. And this is Zeus' chance” Naji explains. “My dad started joking with his friends, saying, ‘See, they’re taking him to Germany. Wouldn’t it be better if you were a dog?’”
Bishr, Naji and Zeus leave Damascus and arrive at the Lebanon-Syria Border. The head officer did not believe their papers so they were not granted entry.
Instead of leaving, they waited until a shift change when another officer would be in charge. The new officer only wanted to take pictures with Zeus and allowed them to pass. "Zeus rescued us," Bishr said.
Once in Lebanon, another problem occurs.
Bishr explains that Rawa was not allowed on the plane, resulting in no one being able to fly with Zeus from Lebanon to Germany. “She’s not going to be able to come and even the paperwork for Zeus himself will need to be changed now because they’re all in Rawa’s name. Without the proper paperwork, all dogs are euthanized upon arrival," he said.
Naji was able travel to Lebanon with a short term visa when others couldn't because of a complication due to construction. "When the war in Syria started, some people ran away, some people went into hiding and most of our friends have died," he said. "Personally, I don't have to join the army. I need medical care, a lot of medical care. I was demolishing a cement wall, it fell onto my leg. I'm using a prosthetic that should have been disposed of five years ago. Obviously after the amputation I got exempted from military service."
Bishr gets a call from Rawa with good news. Suddenly, hope is not lost.
Rawa explains that she found a friend, Coco, who will be able to fly with Zeus to Berlin.
As happy as they are to get Zeus back to Ayham, Naji has some reservations. "Ayham left Zeus when he was still a puppy. I don't know how long Zeus will suffer until he adapts. It will be difficult for him to remember Ayham."
The morning of the flight is considerably difficult for Naji. Zeus and Naji have a heartfelt goodbye at the airport, then off to Berlin for Zeus and Coco.
Ayham eagerly waits in the airport. Once he sees Zeus, he calls to him and Zeus bolts over. Happy and excited, the two get their reunification that Ayham has been longing for.
Ayham goes home and calls Amer via Skype. "You can't imagine how happy I am. I haven't felt like this for a long time," Ayham said.
Amer admittedly misses Zeus, but are happy that Ayham and Zeus are together again and believes they did something great by reuniting them. "But it's okay, I'm better now and so happy," Amer said. "And I'm next. You can bet I am."
“You will come, Amer, and soon”.
A month later, and Ayham is now finished with school and working full-time at a company that allows him to bring Zeus to work.
This time, instead of trying to get Zeus out of Syria, Ayham is trying to help Amer leave. Ayham explains that it is going to be dangerous, but they're hoping a smuggler can get him to Lebanon.
In Damascus, Amer is getting ready for his journey. “I’m going to have to use some else’s Government ID to go through all the checkpoints and roadblocks. So, I had to get a haircut and wear a uniform.” Amer is attempting to escape to Beirut, Lebanon and will need to travel over 75 miles going unnoticed.
“The smuggler told me that I must hide in the car’s trunk. They took me and headed to the mountain. When I saw the mountain, I thought ‘I wonder if I’ll ever see my family again.’ If they see anything moving, they will shoot at it right away. I walk fast, so no one can see me, and stay away from the lights.” The terrain is rough and difficult to navigate in the dark.
Amer made it to Beirut, Lebanon. He video calls Ayham and says, “Look where I am now. I did it. I made it, I made it.”
"I love you Zeus."
This story follows Zeus' journey, but also the stories and journeys of Ayham, Naji and Amer. "Dogs" not only showed Zeus' reunification with his owner but also humanized these refugees. Bravo.
By Abigaile Kootsillas— 2017
Greece’s far right-wing party, the Golden Dawn, is promising the possibility of protests if the government moves forward with plans to fully integrate refugee students with Greek students in the school system.
Illias Kasidiaris, spokesperson for Golden Dawn, says that integrated schools will cause a very serious educational problem.
"Kids don’t know the Greek language. How can they learn?” said Kasidiaris.
Through the 2016-2017 school year the Greek government followed an intermediary plan in which migrant children attended Greek schools in the hours after native Greek students left for the day. Those in remote refugee camps were bussed to the schools on vehicles operated by the UN division International office of Migration (IOM).
However, starting in September 2017 the government reportedly plans to start mainstreaming a portion of migrant children from refugee camps and from apartments near public schools. The Ministry of Education plan recommends integrating a certain portion of non-Greek speaking students into traditional Greek-speaking classrooms.
Kasidiaris said that there was no problem with the after-hours program. The party was even in support of professors going to the refugee camps and teaching lessons. Although, they have expressed their concern when it comes to combining the students.
The party thought that professors going to the camps to teach would be beneficial to both Greek and refugee students. This way, there would be no language barrier and students could learn effectively and it would be easier on the children.
But many are concerned about the drop in quality of education for Greek children if refugee children try to learn without language skills and Kasidiaris says there is a strong possibility of protests among those in his party trying to make that point. “We have the right to do it,” he said.
Kasidiaris claims their protest will be non-violent. His words come just six months after another Golden Dawn parliament member and a group of supporters stormed an elementary school in the Perama area of Athens, threatening staff with words and fists because classes werebeing offered to refugee children from a nearby camp.
Kasidiars claims these were just angry residents and not a sanctioned Golden Dawn activity.
By Abigaile Kootsillas—2018
Video games are constantly evolving and changing. One system that is becoming very popular with young adults and can stimulate real life situations with accuracy are virtual reality headsets.
Virtual reality headsets do exactly what the title entails—they stimulate real life settings and sounds through a headset so everything people see and hear through the headsets feel real.
Similar to many games and devices, there are different manufactures that sell VR headsets, a few include: Google, Samsung, Sony, and more. As technology is rising, VR headsets are becoming a trend and something that more people want to try.
Tyler Boes, 21, Monroe, has owned a VR headset for 10 months and is extremely happy with his purchase. Boes has the HTC Vive headset, which is a high end headset that is developed by HTC and Valve Corporation. He uses it on his PC.
“I like how entertaining it is, not only to the people playing but everyone involved. It’s fun to watch people play and dance around in the games,” Boes said.
Boes said that his purchase is due to his curiosity of how realistic it is and how it can submerge the player into the games.
“I was super satisfied when I bought it,” he said. “I was blown away by how intuitive the system is and by the tracking of the headset and controllers to the motion sensors… It is more than accurate in replacing reality. In one game, I was on an elevator and I actually felt as if I was moving on an actual platform.”
Many other people are also satisfied with their products as well.
“The PlayStation VR headset is probably the most popular," Ashley Epps said. "There are Utopia headers for smart phones and stuff like that, but for the most part the PlayStation VR is the most popular."
Epps is a Game Advisor at GameStop in Monroe, Michigan. She said that from what she can tell, they are increasingly becoming more popular.
"Ive seen a lot of boom in like, podcasts and stuff and people talking about VR and reviewing games and stuff like that," she said.
SuperData, a website that gives information such as statistics, strategies, reports, etc. on games, consoles and other gaming devices predicts revenue with VR is expected to go up.
In 2016, VR (in revenue) was at $1.5 billion for hardware and $0.3 billion for consumer software/services making a total of $1.8 billion. However, in 2017 the overall number was $4.9 billion and in 2020 it is expected to be at $37.7 billion in consumer software/services and hardware.
This trend is just getting started.
Andrew House, chief executive of Sony Interactive Entertainment, disclosed the sales of the PlayStation VR for the first time in an interview with New York Times.
He said that only after about four months of the headsets being on sale 915,000 were purchased.
VR headsets can get pricy, which is a main reason why some people are weary about getting them.
"It was $799 for the kit... then you have to have a computer that can run the system which isn't cheap either," Boes said.
The price adds up, which is why mostly young adults purchase them.
"It does have an extremely high price point," Epps said. "It's about as much as the system itself, a console, about $500 for the bundle... the headset and the controllers that you need to play the games. The bundle usually comes with one game as well, so that is a big investment and a lot of money and a lot to commit to."
"People who have jobs and who can spend their own money are really the ones buying them. It's not really parents wanting to buy another $500 thing for their kid, so it's mostly young adults," Epps said.
Research from Tractica predicts the prices of VR headsets are projected to decline, which may result in more consumers purchasing the headsets and allowing the trend to grow and expand.
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