'Sea Prayer'

Stories

'Sea Prayer'

Author Khaled Hosseini commemorates the death of Alan Kurdi, the Syrian boy who drowned in September 2015.

By UNHCR staff

2 September 2017 Also available in:

A still from Sea Prayer, a virtual reality story by Khaled Hosseini and The Guardian in collaboration with UNHCR.

Two years ago – on September 2, 2015 – three-year-old Alan Kurdi drowned whilst fleeing from Syria to Greece by way of Turkey. The image of the toddler’s lifeless body sparked a surge of emotion that moved countless people worldwide to take action.

Now Khaled Hosseini, the celebrated author of The Kite Runner and a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, has written “Sea Prayer”, an imagined letter in the form of a monologue, from a Syrian father to his son on the eve of making the sea crossing to Europe.

In collaboration with UNHCR, The Guardian has produced and made ‘Sea Prayer’ into the first narrative, animated, virtual reality film created using Tilt Brush, a tool for painting in a 3D space with virtual reality. You can view the film here.

Click here to find out more about Sea Prayer and how to stand #withrefugees.