Life goes on in Damascus: ’We cannot give up and lose our hope’

Five years on from the start of Syria’s civil war, Sean Smith meets the people determined to live and work in Damascus, a city of relative peace despite the battles raging on its outskirts. Among them he meets a ballet teacher; a young entrepreneur who has opened a bar during the hostilities; a bereaved grandmother now raising 14 orphans; and workers of a bakery that hasn’t stopped providing bread since the fighting begin Subscribe to The Guardian ► This is the NHS ► http://