It’s no secret that in 2017, all eyes are on Syria.
The country is home to one of the worst civil wars in modern history, and a humanitarian crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people fearing every moment of their life.
ISIS has relentlessly targeted civilians and anyone who opposes the radical, fundamentalist interpretation of the Quran, turning the region into the battleground of a cultural genocide.
Breaking news of chemical weapons, destructive explosives and air strikes plague our screens in the western world on a daily basis. And heated arguments about the most humane action toward Syrian refugees seems like a never-ending uphill battle.
The crisis in Syria is complex, and ISIS shows no signs of backing down.
In recent months, war correspondents and photographers in the region have shared videos and images that have shaken the western world to its core.
In August, footage of 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh went viral. It may just become one of the most iconic images of this generation.
Omran sat quietly in an ambulance after surviving a military strike on a rebel neighborhood in Syria’s capital city of Aleppo. Covered in dirt and debris, the boy stared blankly at the camera with blood covering his face and clothing.
YouTube
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The image of Omran sent a message to people around the world, illustrating the widespread hopelessness, terror and desperation of this calamity.
Now, just days after a car bombing attack killed nearly 130 people, video footage of a young Syrian girl who survived is stirring up the Internet once again.
The video shows a young Syrian girl (maybe 3 or 4 years old) heavily bandaged with blood on her clothing. As she makes eye-contact with the camera, her battered and gauze-wrapped face breaks out into a contagious smile—one that demonstrates hope in a region scourged with despair.
As she playfully waves the latex doctor’s gloves that have been blown up like balloons, it’s as though her current world of tragedy and devastation has been momentarily turned into a magical scene out of UP, where nothing can go wrong.
But the destruction surrounding her cheerful bubble was all too real.
The car bombing happened at a bus depot, where buses were loaded with hundreds of refugees, who were believed to be fleeing Aleppo. According to the Syrian Arab News Agency, suicide bombers disguised themselves as aid workers, then lured the refugees—particularly children—toward their blast radius by offering food. It wasn’t long before they detonated their vests, killing 126 people, 68 of which were children.
Since Syria’s civil war first broke out in 2011, The UN estimates that more than 400,000 people have died in Aleppo. This little girl is one of the “lucky” few, who have survived to see another day.
And it’s her simple expression that is now inspiring millions with the same child-like spirit of hope that smiles in the face of danger.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
—Romans 15:13