SYRIA OUR COUNTRY OUR STORIES
By Vincent Lyn
One of my favorite countries in the world is Syria and I’ve made some wonderful friendships there. During COVID-19 we’ve had regular zoom conversations on so many topics. A recent talk in July 2021 was so very riveting I wanted to share it with you. During our talk I read a few chapters of my new book CHILDHOOD LOST. One particular chapter— The Purpose of Life is to Live a Life of Purpose. It raised an important question and maybe a valid point of view. “That everyone has a purpose but not necessarily a calling”? But, with everything the Syrians have experienced, witnessed and suffered this past decade. War, famine, trauma and the ongoing sanctions and blockades that still impede their country. What do they feel is their purpose of life? Just a reminder, if you think your life is tough, imagine your worst nightmare, then double or triple it. Syrians know the meaning of survival.
Roua: A female school teacher of 6–10 year-old children, “To make our world a better place”. She felt very despondent when COVID-19 began when Syria went through early lockdowns. Though, now she has hopeful feelings and is optimistic about the future.
Mohammad: To be virtuous. Feels the current situation lacks co-existence and the lack of freedom. Current leaders need to educate people about equality and freedom.
Mahmoud: Human Brotherhood, that is the one word that counts, for that is just what human rights are all about. Caring for one’s fellow human being. Valuing another person’s life, liberty, and safety like one’s own. He also said, “I don’t dream of being married or having a family I only dream of traveling the world”.
Remy: CEO of a medical supply company — The pain hurts so much remembering how we used to live, the most depressing point is the fact that after ten long years we are now returning yet again to 2011. The crisis or whatever it is called, destroyed our dreams and aspirations as much as it did our homes. Though a little brick and mortar and our homes we can rebuild. Most of us try to escape from our ‘future’ world as many of us are stuck in a revolving cycle with the same day repeating itself over and over again.
Mohammad: Tourist Operator — Before the crisis in Syria 2011 tourism was certainly different than during or now after the war. Ten years of proxy war decimated many beautiful cities and famous archeological sites. For those of us who were lucky enough to survive, after shaking the dust of war we arose like a phoenix and had to restart our lives again. And then in March 2020 the Coronavirus pandemic started to spread itself across the globe including Syria. Neighboring borders of Lebanon and Jordan were sealed off and then finally the capital city of Damascus airport shut down. The world changed and like Syria we underwent certain restrictions. Rules were implemented allowing some nationalities to visit Syria, but only citizens for religious pilgrimage from Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain. I really don't have any hope that tourism will come back again especially if we don’t get any support from the Syrian government. The borders must be reopened and visas must be issued again. Slowly, people are getting vaccinated and taking the required PCR Covid tests. What the hell are we waiting for?
Rasha: A doctor shared a personal story that I felt was very heart-warming and shows us how important as human beings the most important facets of life is to show compassion and empathy.
“I want to tell about one of my experiences with one of the children who used to visit me in my pharmacy. A 13-year-old boy who has not learned to read or write was displaced. I’ve seen him many times doing things that I can’t tell you about, because it’s disgraceful to us as human beings to keep quiet about this. He used to come to my pharmacy. He would ask me about the Earth and the planets… and about the dinosaurs, and he thought that they were still alive. He would wondered would they eat us. We have been in contact for two years and every once in a while he would come visit and spend about an hour with me. Sometimes watching video games and although there were patients in the pharmacy, he would hang around and stay. I didn’t mind this. Once he even asked me for baby food, a kind of cereal for his little brother because his mother gave birth to a new child. He said he would bring the money later. I didn’t mind this and I told him that he did not need to pay the money, but he insisted that I accept it. I saw him sometime later and he passed by and apologized. Not long after he disappeared and I haven’t seen him since. That child touched my heart. I have had many experiences like that, because children love me. I don’t know why, but I think it’s because I care what they are trying to do or say. I think that is my purpose in life, to care for others and listen to them, and tell what they should do and what they can do. I love them all they are like the stars always shining”.
I felt it was also very important to look through a child’s eye in the midst of the violence and destruction. Here, a number of Syrian children use social media to tell the tales of war to the outside world and provide a window into life and death in Syria.
Najem: 15, uses his mobile phone to capture videos and images of Eastern Ghouta, his hometown. His biggest hope is to be able to sit in a classroom one day and live a peaceful life. “I want to travel, continue my study, and work on my English and my journalism skills”.
When the Syrian government escalated its airstrikes as it pushed into Eastern Ghouta, Najem captured moments of the suffering as the city was besieged and the regime forces bombarded it with nonstop airstrikes. Those inside the city were struggling for basic living needs. Eastern Ghouta, a rebel stronghold, saw countless attacks over the years. Najem decided that the world needed to see the war through his eyes. “He spoke in English because he thought he would reach more people,” Najem’s sister, Hiba said. “He stopped going to school after it was destroyed in an airstrike. He used English words he learned when he was in school to deliver his message,” she said. Najem lost his father during a shelling in Eastern Ghouta. The war also claimed the life of his best friend, who was killed in an airstrike.
His experiences and losses forced him to act more like an adult, undertaking responsibilities children in his age normally don’t even have to think about. He began cutting and collecting wood for heat and bringing water from nearby wells to his family. He also used his social media skills to tweet about everyday life. “The humanitarian and medical situation in Eastern Ghouta is difficult to describe with words. What is happening now is genocide,” Najem said in one a Twitter video he posted. Najem was evacuated from Eastern Ghouta just days before the regime’s chemical attack that killed and injured scores of civilians in the area. As Najem and thousands of other civilians were bused to refugee camps in the north, he documented his journey.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates about 46,000 civilians and fighters were evacuated from the rebel enclave. Najem still tweets from his refugee camp, and he has a message for the outside world: “My message to the world is that our right as children is to live in peace and be able to go to school and play like any other child in this world.”
Nour and Alaa, 12 and 8 years old, respectively, caught the world’s attention when the sisters started tweeting details of their daily lives under siege and bombardment in Eastern Ghouta. Shams, their mother, created a joint Twitter account for them to provide a window of communication to the outside world and to appeal to the international community for help as living conditions deteriorated. “Children in Eastern Ghouta were deprived from everything, food, water, school, home,” Shams said. “Ghouta was ignored by the world, so I decided with my daughters to open a Twitter account to show the world what is going on,” she said. Nour and Alaa said that at one point they lived underground for two months because of continued airstrikes.
“Many hundred civilians have been killed and injured,” tweeted Nour and Alaa. “Yesterday there was a meeting in the U.N. Security Council but without result.” That meant, they said, that “there is no truce, no cease-fire and no hope, as warplanes and helicopters still target us.” Nour and Alaa said the sky was never clear from warplanes and helicopters, striking their area day and night when they were in Eastern Ghouta. Like Najem, Nour and Alaa stopped going to school after it was destroyed by a regime airstrike.
Children can’t recall peace
Many Syrian children do not remember peace, because they were either born during war or were too young when the conflict began in 2011 to remember life before the conflict. Seeing my children grow up in this war is very hard; seeing my children sleep hungry and terrified was painful. But hope springs eternally. We hope one day to return back to our homes in peace,” Shams said. Like Najem, the two sisters were also evacuated from Eastern Ghouta to northern Syria. While Najem is still in Syria, Nour and Alaa crossed into neighboring Turkey and live there as refugees. But they have not forgotten about Syria. “Please help the children of Syria. They deserve to live like other children in this world,” Nour and Alaa.
What does it really mean when we say the Spirit of Brotherhood? That all human beings, men, women and children are born free and equal in dignity and rights. That they are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Though when I hear stories of horrific pain and suffering like this from innocent children it makes me wonder how could a loving God allow so much suffering?
Vincent Lyn
CEO/Founder at We Can Save Children
Director of Creative Development at African Views Organization
Economic & Social Council at United Nations
Middle East Correspondent at Wall Street News Agency
Rescue & Recovery Specialist at International Confederation of Police & Security Experts