A good conversation starts with tea. That is why every Pickwick tea bag has a question printed on it. This is Tarek’s question.

Tarek fled the war in Syria to find refuge in the Netherlands. In Aleppo he was part of a football team with his friends, but many of them lost their lives. Looking for connection with his new neighbors, he reaches out to a local Dutch football team to ask the team’s captain if he may join them as player and friend.

When the captain informs the team, the players initially are hesitant. During the game break, Tarek shares his story with the team over a cup of tea. Moved by his story and humble request, the sentiment changes 180 degrees. They unanimously decide to accept Tarek among their ranks. That is the impact a good conversation with a good cup of tea can have.

Out of 43,000 custom printed Question Tea Bags, we selected the most intriguing questions to find out about the stories behind them.

We were immediately caught by Tarek’s humble request to find connection with the inhabitants of the country that received him after fleeing Syria. After initial contact we spoke with Tarek about the possibility of documenting his story on film. As he wasn’t used to being filmed we helped in gaining the confidence to appear on camera.

Contact was set up with the team captain of local football club FC Bennekom. He immediately was open for the idea of Tarek joining the team, but mentioned his team mates might be not as accepting.

The team was contacted upfront they would be filmed, though we didn’t state what for. Unaware that they would be facing a refugee from Syria, their reaction when confronted with this story is 100% genuine.