When war is constant, it can be easy to lose sight of how much a single death can matter. But the passing of one committed social worker will be especially devastating to his community in Aleppo.

The 24-year-old Anas al-Basha was a centre director at Space for Hope, one of many unheralded local initiatives operating against the odds to provide civil society services to Syria's war-torn opposition areas.

He was also a joker who dressed as a clown to cheer up Aleppo's traumatised children. He was killed on Tuesday in a presumed Russian or government missile strike on the Mashhad neighborhood in the besieged, eastern side of the city.

In a now largely bombed-out enclave, Space for Hope supports 12 schools and four psycho-social support centers in eastern Aleppo, providing counseling and financial support for 365 children who have lost one or both parents. Many of the staff of 34 learned social work on the job as the country's five-year civil war unfolded.