If you haven’t already, take a moment and watch the video below. It’s not easy to watch. It shouldn’t be. It’s horrific, startling and heartbreaking.
It feels all too familiar. We are two weeks away from the one year anniversary of young Alan Kurdi’s death. Seeing the photo of Aylan’s lifeless body washed up on a beach in Turkey was—for many—the first realization that something truly horrific was happening in Syria, and for those fleeing Syria.
This morning, these images of Omran feels like a second realization—that the Syrian conflict is far from over. That countless lives are being lost and destroyed by the civil war there. That children are literally being bombed out of their homes. While it’s not clear yet about the full circumstances of this incident in Aleppo, what is clear is that no child should be made to suffer in this way. Instead of finishing their summers wiping water from their faces after swimming practice, children are wiping blood from their faces. Instead of wearing smiles on their faces while playing with Legos, there are vacant looks of shock, as their homes and family members are lost.
Watching the video of Omran, it’s so easy to feel helpless. But each of us can help. YOU can help.
Donating to World Relief is not the solution to the Syrian civil war. We get that. But we truly believe that we can all offset human suffering, as we become change-makers. Your donation to World Relief allows us to continue investing in the lives of refugee children, like providing child-friendly spaces where kids like Omran can once again play, learn and grow.
Because this crisis continues every day, our commitment to Syrian refugees and others displaced in the Middle East MUST continue. We can not—must not—”grow weary in doing good.” (Galatians 6:9)
VITAL STATS:
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More than 300 people killed in and around Aleppo in the last two weeks. (source: ICRC, 8/18/16)
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One out three killed were women and children. (source: ICRC, 8/18/16)
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Currently 4,812,278 registered Syrian Refugees. (source: UNHCR, Government of Turkey, 8/16/16)