Forgotten Children of Aleppo

We love our children, everybody does. Precious, innocent miracles of life. We want to protect them, educate them and give them every opportunity to do well in life.

Several months ago I watched in horror as an image of a 5 year old boy was pulled from rubble in Aleppo Syria after an airstrike. Many say the video was staged and it was all propaganda. True or not this horror story is only one of many others. I wonder how  people felt watching this. Could their reaction have been different if this was a child of the West, one with no ties to a country plagued by terrorism. 

Syrian's tweeted in astonishment about 'why the world is doing nothing about the killing in Aleppo?' Sadly the fate of this boy and many other Syrian children is at the hands of world leaders. Think about your own children. Who decides whether they will be homeless, starve, miss out on an education or be killed? Usually us right? We protect our children and thank God we live in a country that also protects our children. What if your child's fate is determined by world leaders with their own interests? Worse than that, what if the image of Obama to the right is replaced by the new US President-elect? Would you feel safe knowing that your child's fate is in the hands of Trump and Putin?

A Syrian refugee child sleeps in his fathers arms as they wait to board a bus in Greece. Despite miraculously crossing the sea without drowning they still have huge challenges ahead. No food, shelter, prospect of education, and no country to call home. God help this father if he thinks for one moment he and his child will be welcomed and protected from further suffering. With the emergence of anti-migrant sentiment growing like a plague across the world acts of humanity are fading.

I often shake my head as my children complain about why we can't have a new two-story house like many of their friends. They'll never see less fortunate kids living in tents during winter; they won't see these kids freeze at night when their tents fill with water in the rain. My kids complain about school work while refugee children yearn for an education. My children complain about being told what to do whilst these children live under a dictatorship. My children have nightmares after watching scary movies, these children have nightmares because they have watched a parent or parents, and sometime horrifically their entire family die.

I watched a film 'Syria: No Strings' which tells the story of Syrian children living as refugees in Turkey. The film describes the experience of a child traumaticed by an event in which he witnesses the murder of his father on the way to the store to get sweets. The child wants to die so he can be with his father. He wants to impose revenge on the people who killed his father. This can go two ways: with help this child may overcome his trauma and lead somewhat of a normal life; or he won't get help, sadly he may then grow up filled with sentiment of hatred and revenge. I hope with all my heart that as the world grows less caring towards those in need that humanity somehow prevails.