حياة او موت
We were just sleeping. My nine-year-old brother was lying next to me. He looked so peaceful as he dreamt about warriors and superheroes. I wake in a panic as I hear screams from outside or is it inside? My head is a bit fuzzy still. My mother runs and grabs my brother while ordering me to help my father pack. “Be quick and quiet. Be careful. We have to leave now.” Before my mind starts to process the situation, the floor starts to shake. Then the walls. Then the entire house. I run outside with nothing but my clothes on my back. Dust covers my whole body. My whole life is falling apart. All I have ever known is gone with a single blast. It’s still dark outside, but some fires light up the city. “Mama! Papa!” My little brother cries out, and I run to him. I realize it is only us two left. We are last ones standing from my family. Strangers come to us and take us to “somewhere safe” they say. I reply, “Is there such thing anymore?” A random adult explains to me that we must leave the town because there are military forces that will kill us. They said that our parents death was something the military called collateral damage of war. Soon enough, we were on a bus to Europe in seek of a better future. I, a 16-year-old girl, have to take charge. I have to grow up. I have to find a better place to live. I am a refugee of war. I need help.
This may sound like a fictional story made for a dramatic movie, however, this is no story. This is the reality in Syria. There are 6.3 million of Syrians displaced within Syria, and 4.8 million have sought safety in the surrounding nations such as Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and the European Union. That sums to a total of 11 million of innocent people who had to leave their homes forcefully because of circumstances they cannot control. It was a matter of life or death (حياة او موت). These people are not criminals. They are families, orphans, pregnant women, children. They are like you and me. This is why we need to help out with the refugee crisis. There is a lack of water, food, and medicine. There is a lack of compassion from the world. Not enough people realize that there are lives at stake and we need to act.
This may sound like a fictional story made for a dramatic movie, however, this is no story. This is the reality in Syria. There are 6.3 million of Syrians displaced within Syria, and 4.8 million have sought safety in the surrounding nations such as Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and the European Union. That sums to a total of 11 million of innocent people who had to leave their homes forcefully because of circumstances they cannot control. It was a matter of life or death (حياة او موت). These people are not criminals. They are families, orphans, pregnant women, children. They are like you and me. This is why we need to help out with the refugee crisis. There is a lack of water, food, and medicine. There is a lack of compassion from the world. Not enough people realize that there are lives at stake and we need to act.
Wow...very powerful entry. Great!
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