“It’s the children the world almost breaks who grow up to save it.” ~ Frank Warren

It saddens me to say that the people of Syria continue to be at war with themselves with thousands of women and children, no part of the political sphere, dying each day as a result. The situation is complicated; there is no easy solution or intervention.

Today is my son’s 11th birthday. He has a life of unusual comfort and privilege, especially compared to the boys of Syria. Where he has food, they may not. Where he has a superior education, they may not be able to read yet. Where he can feel safe going to bed at night, they may fear death. His drinking water is safe and clean. His mother can cuddle him and assure him all will be all right as I know it will. I have been so fortunate to be able to give my son a wonderful life.

As a mother, my heart aches for the mothers who have to move their children to save them from violence, to feed them, to find shelter for them, sometimes without the assistance of their families or spouses. I feel helpless in the face of this. So all I can do is send my heartfelt wishes to these mothers and children that the crisis in their country will soon end, a wish sent out on my sons’s 11th birthday—from both of us.

That doesn’t mean we can not care about the people of Syria, particularly the children. An international movement, #WithSyria, has gotten attention, and the artist Banksy has made a simple statement by redoing a piece of his/her artwork to reflect this:

It is a revision of this piece of work Banksy created:

A statement on the website reads as follows:

On the 6th March 2011 in the Syrian town of Daraa, fifteen children

were arrested and tortured for painting anti-authoritarian graffiti.

The protests that followed their detention led to an outbreak of violence

across the country that would see a domestic uprising transform into a

civil war displacing 9.3 million people from their homes.

If you want to learn more, check out this Upworthy link, which inspired me.

Skin: Jalwa – Meenakshi – Cardamom – Black Eyebrows by Chandra Masala for Jalwa, available at Skin Fair 2014 (Sim 1) *

Eyes: PC pearl – bog wood – medium dark by Lano Ling for Poetic Eyes

Outfit: ::Sakinah:: Blue and Grey Abaya by Syngen Sohmers for Sakinah

Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Elegant Right and Slink Mesh Hands (av) Gesture Left by Siddean Munro for Slink

Shoes: *COCO*_Thong Sandal by cocoro Lemon for COCO

Pose by Olaenka Chesnokov for oOo Studio (custom)