Syria, Layla who tells her life at war with a GoPro

“When I received an award at school, my father hung it on the wall of our house. He had left a space next to it saying that more would come. But he didn’t have time to see them, because he died first, in the war ». Layla she is 12 years old and has a white checkered veil and frames her face. She lives in Idlib, Syria, since she was born she has never seen her country live in peace. She was too young to realize it twelve years ago, and only a year after her birth began the clashes that continue to destroy the country and her population today.

Layla lost her father when she was 8 when her house was hit by a bombing, taking everything away from her. Since the destruction of the house, Layla, her mother and her siblings have been displaced. They live in a camp in Idlib. There Layla met Hurras Network, the partner of Save the Children in the field, which provides psychosocial support to her and her family. Thanks to them, she received a GoPro that allowed her to film her days and tell how a 13-year-old girl lives in a country devastated by a conflict that has continued since March 2011.

In Layla’s images there is the road she takes to reach the school, there is her little sister Manah, there is Mr. Ismail, the teacher who teaches Layla and her companions survival techniques. “Since taking this course I have learned to meditate»Says Layla. “I can travel with my mind to my father and talk to him.”

The story of Layla and the many displaced children in the world was at the center of the four days of Impossible 2022organized by Save The Children to discuss concrete proposals on how to guarantee boys and girls the right to the future in countries affected by conflicts and also in contexts such as Italy where educational poverty is on the rise.

“The days of Impossible 2002 showed us the best side of a country, Italy, where Save the Children’s appeal to focus on children together to change things was welcomed with enthusiasm and determination”, he commented. Daniela Fatarella, director general of Save the Children. “The work of these days gives us concrete proposals and new alliances to make what seems not to be possible, on the five themes we have put on the table: conflicts and climate crisis, migration, the right to education and the fight against poverty, regeneration of the territories of children’s growth, enhancement of talents “.

Like Layla, Samir and Youssef also received two GoPros with which to document their days. “Now I sell biscuits and ice cream but I would like our situation in Syria to improve so that we no longer have to do it and study alone”, Youssef says, looking straight into the room. He lost both parents to the conflict and today he says what he loves most is going to school even though he has to walk a lot to reach her. “The most important thing for me now is to study.”

Samir instead filmed a day in his life with the GoPro to show what it means to live in a displaced person camp in Idlib. He lives with his parents, grandmother, brother and four sisters in the rural area of ​​Idlib in northwest Syria after his family fled Hama. Today in Syria 3.5 million boys and girls are out of school, of which 40% are girls. As Save The Chldren points out, many children (aged 7 and up) are recruited into armed groups, while those who manage to escape the militias are forced to work, some are engaged in shops or garages, others in occasional jobs such as selling goods on the street or door to door. Often these are boys and girls from poorer homes, or who have lost one or both parents.

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