Alia

Among the things that makes Alia, 7, always unhappy is that she can longer dance or lift up her baby brother. Alia’s life changed forever one night in al-Qusayr, near Homs in Syria, few years ago when their small village located near Lebanon’s northern border was bombed by Assad warplanes.

 Alia, who was just four years old then, got hit by a shrapnel when her family’s house was completely destroyed at that night. The shrapnel lanced into the back of her left knee, and she lost most of the flesh surrounding it.

Alia’s mother, Iman, took her daughter to the hospital but they couldn’t help her there. Alia’s case became worse; her knee was left stuck in a jarringly position. It was at this point that her mother took her along with the other children and decided to flee to Lebanon.

The family members live now in a small flat at the bottom of a residential building in Tripoli. Her mother sells vegetables on the side of the road for a small amount of money that is not enough to accommodate Alia’s condition. 

Unfortunately, Alia no longer has any sensation in her left leg. Her mother discovered this when she saw her daughter walking over glass and not even wince in pain - despite the fact that she needed five stitches.

Iman expresses her concern about Alia and feels sad whenever she sees her daughter unable to walk. She realizes that Alia has become more sensitive about her condition and that she often asks her mother if she would continue her life this way.

Despite her condition, Alia still wants to play and dance, but sadly, she will never get sensations below her left knee. There’s nothing doctors can do right now. Her mother keeps telling her daughter that things will get better when she becomes older.

She often says that they, Alia and her, can’t give up hope.