The girls are still asking to go home a month after the earthquake, says a Syrian mother

[ad_1]

To get free, real-time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox, sign up for our breaking news emails.

A pregnant Syrian mother described the harrowing moment when a devastating earthquake destroyed her building a month ago, forcing her to sleep on the street with two young daughters who kept asking her when they would come home.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck areas in Turkey and Syria on February 6, followed by a second quake 10 days later, killing more than 50,000 people and displacing millions.

Alaa, whose second name has not been given, now lives in a UNICEF-supported shelter for people displaced from their homes, with her two daughters, four-year-old Mona and three-year-old Retaj, in Jableh, Latakia governorate. Northwestern Syria.

The men in my building broke down my door, shouted, told me to get out, and pulled my children out of me.

the outside

The mother expressed her gratitude to her husband and daughters that they are fine, but her children have been frightened for weeks after the event, often crying at night, wetting the bed and telling their mother “they want to go home.”

On the day their home collapsed, Alaa described trying to comfort her children and tell them that the shaking was like a “swing” as the earthquake started.

The men also broke down the door of the house to get her children to safety, and in fear for her unborn child, Ala fainted.

Alaa said, “I was at home reading the Qur’an, praying and sitting with my children.”

Suddenly my daughter woke up and said, Is this a swing? Now I have a swing.

So I said to her, “Yeah, God has thrown us a swing—I said that so she wouldn’t be afraid.”

“I got up to see what was happening and heard people screaming but I didn’t know what was happening because I had never witnessed an earthquake before.

“Then the men in my building broke down my door and yelled, telling me to get out and pulling my kids out of me.

I cried, saying: You have taken my children from me! May God take your heart from you.

“I started crying and couldn’t feel my hands anymore, my ears started whistling, and I passed out.”

Alaa was soon taken to the hospital, where she was assured of the safety of her unborn child.

Alaa, who was left without a home, described being eaten by passersby while she slept on the street in the pouring rain, and her daughters tried to piece together what had happened to their home.

Alaa said, “She (my daughter) said, ‘They cut our building with scissors,’ because she didn’t understand what was happening.”

“I told her not to be afraid but since the accident, they both wet the bed.

“A few days ago I started telling her not to (that) and promised to buy her stuff if she didn’t.

“So far (I’ve) done it, but I don’t have extra panties to wear.”

Alaa said her daughters cry at night, but she tries to hug them and sing to them.

The three have not showered since the accident, but have been given food, nappies and soap to clean themselves in the compound.

In the regions of Turkey alone, UNICEF estimated that two and a half million children have been affected by the earthquake and are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

To find out more about UNICEF’s work in Turkey and Syria go to: www.unicef.uk/earthquakenews

[ad_2]