New Beginnings

chapter 5

SYRIA: CHILD DEATH RATE TRIPLES IN AL-HOL CAMP AS MEDICAL ACCESS DETERIORATES
​​​​​​​​​Save the Children (2020)

"Amal. Wake up, we're almost there." Her father's tender words woke her. She lifted her head off her father's shoulder and stretched her arms above her head. A faint ache could be felt on her lower back, probably due to the uncomfortable position she was forced to sleep in on the overcrowded boat. She pulled her hands close to her face where she inspected the vague outline of an injury that she had acquired. Her mother and sister had still been inside when the explosion occurred so were sheltered from the full wrath of the bomb.
When she reached the hospital, it had been her father who treated her and when she woke up, her father announced that they had to leave. After that, everything changed.

When Amal had fully recovered, she experienced the aftereffects of the bomb for the first time. Her street had turned to ruins. There were windows covered up with planks and rubble from buildings peppered the road. Every footstep would crunch as they walked over the remains of the buildings that once stood there.

When she got home, she saw her house, still standing – but barely. It was not a safe place anymore for her or her family. Everything she once knew had been ravaged; staying in Aleppo would be senseless with the increased threat. As the sun rose over the horizon, with the sky turning mesmerizing yellow, orange, and red, Amal clutched her necklace diving headlong into a new beginning.