We are in a church in Wedding, a working class neighbourhood in Berlin, to meet Rand Rajad and Alaa Zaidounah, two Syrians living in Germany. They are members of Hoffnungschor, or Choir of Hope, a choir uniting Syrians, Germans and others living in Berlin. What started as an idea in the kitchen of a camp set up to house refugees arriving in Germany, has now taken the singers to unity and new friendships both on and off stage.

“The German people wanted to integrate Syrians into society, but I think now we did the opposite!”