Mother Sahar, Nagham and Ghina's tutors until she can join the school year in 2 or 3 months
(Image by Franklin Lamb) Details DMCA
Ghina and Nagham were very lucky to survive the sniper's bullets last month and are today out of harm's way. But this is not the case for the 40,000 entrapped residents of Madaya who remain imprisoned by the war in Syria, as do nearly one million other besieged civilians across Syria today.
Here is another update from today.
I have just returned from visiting Ghina and Nagham in the hospital. Their mother Sahar was upset again today because during last night Ghina had another terrible nightmare. Ghina woke up screaming and then Nagham woke up and also burst into tears. The same event happens about twice a week. The commotion summoned the night staff who as usual tried futilely to calm sweet injured Ghina and her sister Nagham.
Ghina wakes up from these nightmares and screams to her mother, who at that point is also terrified about what is happening to Ghina. Sahar holds her daughters Ghina and Nagham tightly to her bosom to try and calm them. Ghana's nightmare this time was that somebody was going to cut off her leg!
Ghina had overheard the medical staff in Madaya telling her mother that in order to save Ghina's life they must amputate Ghina's badly shattered and infected leg. As mention above, the brave medical staff in Madaya are overwhelmed and under equipped in a makeshift field hospital. The doctors are faced with such life and death situation every day and they are emotionally stretched thin too.
Today we did our best to assure Ghina that her shattered leg has been saved and the infection is beginning to heal. Whenever I arrive at the hospital to visit Ghina and Nagham I gently stroke Ghina's leg and try to reassure her that, "oh my God, you are healing so well"...and she is physically. The emotional damage to Ghina, Nagham and so many thousands of children in Syria will take much longer to heal, if this war ever ends. What the children need now is plenty of love and to know that somebody cares. I try to drop by as often as possible.
The emotional wounds of the children will take much longer to heal
(Image by Franklin Lamb) Details DMCA
Today I dropped by Ghina's and Nagham's hospital room and left the treats shown below. The girls have been through such horror that they need all the encouragement they can get to eat. The treats help and I think they are making progress. After being on a near starvation diet for so long and so much emotional stress it takes time just for the children to learn to eat normally again.
More good news! We found an apartment for Sahar and her daughters. Sahar likes it and she reports that it's near a great park, which there are many in Damascus. There are also many shops in the so-far quiet neighborhood, and the school is nearby. For many, life is a struggle everyday.
[Franklin Lamb volunteers with the Lebanon, France, and USA based Meals for Syrian Refugee Children Lebanon (MSRCL) which seeks to provide hot nutritional meals to Syrian and other refugee children in Lebanon. http://mealsforsyrianrefugeechildrenlebanon.com . He is reachable c/o fplamb@gmail.com].
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