Taimaa Abazli, 24, with her newborn daughter, Helen, born by C-section on 13 September, at a hotel outside Thessaloniki, Greece, September 19, 2016. Her first child, Wael, is extremely jealous of his new sister, and pouting.

Taimaa and her husband, Muhannad (28) are from Idlib, Syria, near the border with Turkey.

Muhannad comes from a family of fruit farmers with a large tract of land just outside of Idlib (peaches, apples, olives). He studied as a communications engineer, and worked for the Assad government until January 2016, when government forces bombed his house in Idlib, and forced his family to flee for his parent’s house in the countryside. When fighting followed them there, they decided to emigrate. “We didn’t have money, we couldn’t even access our bank account,” says Muhannad. “We didn’t have a home, we had nothing. So we decided to walk to Turkey.” Muhannad left with his wife, their two-year-old son Wael, Muhannad’s brother, his sister-in law and their son (not sure of the age, but young). They crossed the border at night, in the snow, and eventually made it to the coast, where they paid $1200 per adult to a smuggler for a boat to Lesbos.
Muhannad has footage of their life in Syria, including his wedding. He doesn’t have footage of his nighttime flight.

Both sets of parents are still in Syria. Muhannad has a sister in Canada, and another in Germany. When they initially set out they wanted to go to Germany, but now that the border is closed, they say they don’t care where they go, as long as Muhannad can find a job and Taimaa can live in a safe place to raise the children.

(Credit: Lynsey Addario — Verbatim for Time)