“We’re just a bunch of guys from the Syrian coast, and we want to talk about what’s going on there. The situation varies in every part of the country, but there is something quite unique about the coast.”

With these words, the creators of Sendian magazine present themselves to their audience. Their goal is to help people understand the Syrian coast in a context greater than pro- or anti-regime, and to “make the voice of the youth on the coast heard by everyone in Syria.”

The western provinces of Latakia and Tartus, which border the Mediterranean Sea, are commonly referred to as Syria’s coast. This area, from which the Assad family descends, is a regime stronghold. Though a number of districts in these provinces have revolted against the regime, security forces maintain a tight grip on the area.

The Sendian team said to Syria Untold that they come from “a group of religious backgrounds, but have been united by the revolution, which inspired them to want to build a better future and overturn the bitter reality faced by the residents of the coast.”

The magazine was born in August 2012 in light of the complex political and economic factors impacting the residents of Syria’s these areas. The regime has managed to draw the youth into the army, and both state and opposition media depict the region as being pro-regime. But the creators say there is more to the story, and they hope to present the reality on the ground in two different ways.

The first type of content is “directed at the residents of the coast, providing them a different take on what is going on in Syria, trying to save them from being complicit with the regime, and attempting to offer them an opportunity to rebuild Syria with their brothers and sisters from across the country.” This is accomplished through the discussion of issues related to the Syrian coast and by shedding light on the way in which the regime takes advantage of Alawites in its war against the people.

To target all Syrians, Sendian paints pictures of daily life and its challenges in Alawite-majority areas, to show the stark contrast between reality and the image depicted by state media.

“The project didn’t take much planning,” one of the activists said to Syria Untold. “We discussed the messages we wanted to send to the world and the issues we wanted to raise awareness about. All members of the Sendian team work on their various tasks: story suggestions for each issue, preparing columns and reports, getting in touch with activists and revolutionary councils, editing the text, finalizing the layout and preparing the magazine for publication, sharing it online and updating the Facebook page.

Sendian is an online magazine shared only on Facebook. It is not printed for a number of reasons, including the impossibility of printing and distributing it on the Syrian coast due to the security siege, a lack of funding, and a desire to remain independent and not rely on outsiders for money. The complications associated with the regime’s stronghold on Syria’s coast are plenty. “Moving about the coast without having a thorough plan can put your life at risk,” a member of the Sendian team said. “The people of the surrounding area do not support these types of projects, and are more likely to harm an activist than protect him from security forces.”

As for their desire for financial independence, “we want to work the way we please,” they said. Right now, the activists don’t have to cover the cost of anything more than their internet. “We received many offers from financial backers and were given opportunities to attend media workshops for free, but we declined all these offers, because we’d rather stay from something we might be asked to reciprocate in the future.” The team added that they prefer to postpone their projects that require financing until the regime collapses, when they would like to transform into a media organization that is able to get financing with no strings attached.

Unlike activists in most other areas throughout Syria, activists on the Syrian coast are bound by societal pressures. “We approach our friends and families in our villages knowing very well how difficult it is to talk to them about the revolution. In our 13th issue, we talked about how before we can start calling people to join the revolution, there are a number of issues we must discuss. Those include sectarianism, the role of minorities in the future Syria, and the fear of Islamic extremists. We will never accomplish our goals if we ignore these very real issues we face.”