Danielle Dollorto, a producer in
CNN’s Medical Unit, recently traveled to Lebanon to meet refugees who had to
abandon their homes due to the ongoing violence in Syria. When she arrived at
the refugee camp, she befriended one petite camp resident.
Abdel is a seven-year-old boy in
the Syrian refugee camp who caught the attention of Dollorto. She saw the fear
and sadness in his eyes and reported that it was terror beyond his years. He
was not like the other children who were fascinated by the cameras of the CNN
team. He stood off to the side, uninterested in the strange visitors. Through
the help of a translator, Abdel opened up to Dollorto.
For four months now, Abdel has
lived in a ten-by-ten foot cement floor tent along with his mother, and two
younger brothers. His father remains in their two-bedroom home back in
Syria. Prior to the crisis in Syria, Abdel
had been a happy, playful first-grader. He no longer feels safe playing
outside, and now as a result of the devastating violence, his right arm in
misshapen. While running from a gunfight, Abdel fell and broken his arm. Unable
to get medical attention, the bones incorrectly healed, making it impossible
for him to fully bend or extend his arm.
Six million Syrians have already
been forced from their homes due to the constant violence. Abdel and his two
younger brothers are three of the nearly four million refugees under the age of
seventeen. The death toll is rising
daily, 100,000 Syrians have already lost their lives. Just last month, 1,400 Syrians died in a
chemical weapons attack.
Danielle Dollorto listened to the refugees’ horror stories. The trip to the outskirts of Syria gave her a new perspective on the war in Syria, one of a child. The children of Syria will be most affected by the ongoing violence. They are the ones growing up in a nation of death and destruction. There must be a solution to end the crisis but it seems that there could be severe consequences where or not there is international intervention.
Danielle Dollorto listened to the refugees’ horror stories. The trip to the outskirts of Syria gave her a new perspective on the war in Syria, one of a child. The children of Syria will be most affected by the ongoing violence. They are the ones growing up in a nation of death and destruction. There must be a solution to end the crisis but it seems that there could be severe consequences where or not there is international intervention.
This post was really interesting to me! I can't even imagine what it must be like to always live in fear and be exposed to such awful situations. I think it is absolutely heartbreaking that children all over the world are unable to have a childhood because of violence that they have nothing to do with.
ReplyDeleteReading this made me realize the extent of the violence that is happening in Syria presently. To be that young and experience that sort of horrific violence is traumatizing.
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