This 9-year-old Syrian girl lost her right leg as a toddler and is striving to become a lawyer
This 9-year-old Syrian girl lost her right leg as a toddler and is striving to become a lawyer
Compounding crises increase misery for Syrian families trying to pick up the pieces after ten years of conflict, including 6.7 million people still displaced inside the country.
In a dimly lit room of the tiny apartment in Aleppo where her family now lives, nine-year-old Amal sits on a mattress with a blanket covering a life-altering injury. Eight years ago, aged just 18 months, Amal lost her right leg when a shell struck their home in Hama city and exploded in the bedroom where she slept.
After fleeing the fighting, the family moved multiple times in search of safety before finally settling in Aleppo, Syria’s second city and former industrial hub that today still bears many of the scars of the country’s ten-year crisis.
“We moved from one house to another, from one area to another,” explained Amal’s mother Samar, 37. “The most difficult thing was being displaced time and time again, because every time we moved Amal, her wound would reopen again and bleed. It took seven months for it to heal.”
Following months of treatment, Amal is now able to walk to school with the help of a prosthetic leg, and dreams of one day becoming a lawyer. “I don’t like to sit idle,” Amal said. “I walk to school alone. I prefer it. It’s not hard. I made a bunch of friends at school, from the very first day.”
Against a backdrop of damaged buildings and piles of rubble in the impoverished neighbourhood where they live, signs of normal life are gradually returning along with the former residents who fled during the worst of the fighting.
But in spite of the tradesmen reclaiming damaged workshops and the return of rush hour traffic, beneath the surface the devastating impact of the past decade of turmoil can still be felt, and for many such as Amal’s family the hardship is worse than ever. Years of displacement have depleted any savings they had, leaving them unable to cover rent or medical expenses and relying entirely on aid agencies and handouts.
“As much as I try to explain [to you] how difficult the situation is, it’s far worse,” Samar said. “Before the crisis we had our own home, my husband had a job. Now, before we buy anything, we have to think it over a hundred times before we buy it, be it food or clothes or anything else. I never imagined I would find myself in this state.”
Over the past decade, millions of Syrians like Amal and her family have been forced to flee their homes in what remains the world’s largest displacement crisis. Over 5.5 million Syrians are living as refugees in neighbouring countries, and 6.7 million are still displaced inside the country, including an estimated 2.5 million children.
While Syrian families like Amal’s continue to show incredible resilience after a decade of struggle, the past year has pushed many to breaking point. Continued support from the international and humanitarian community is needed to help Syrians cope with worsening socio-economic conditions.
