Letters from Syrian children to Santa Claus

I want to have water at home because I am tired of carrying it home every day. Our hands are sore. 

(Oday al-Mino, 11 years old)

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May God bless you Santa Claus. 

Please help us to go back to our houses.

I need money to travel and settle with my brother Saeed in Germany. 

I have not seen him for a long time.

I also want a huge BBQ dish for me only.

(Khaled Zouaabi, Binnish, 7 years old)

***

Hello,

I want a new soccer ball and Messi athletic shoes.

And for my sister Sarah who’s in first grade, ice cream and a Barbie.

Our house is located on the middle floor above the bakery.

(Hossam Abu Ghanem, Dana, 8 years old)

***

Santa Claus

I love cats a lot. 

Please bring me a small kitty and I will take good care of her. 

(Ali Qadeeb al-Ban, Zerdna, 8 years old)

***

I wish you could cure my Aunt Fadwa

so we could go on a sea trip this year.

I have never seen the sea.

(Sawsan Haj Mustafa, Zerdna, 12 years old)

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My wish is for bombing to flee and aircrafts to die.

And for my grandmother to come from Damascus and visit us and stay with us and my baba will come from his work and nap in the house.

(Jumana Zain Khan, Aleppo, 9 years)

***

I want new books and colored pens to help me in my study and for my father to be free out of prison. 

His name is Hamdi and he did not do anything. 

I miss him a lot.

Baba first, and books after.

Thank you, Santa Claus.

(Huda al-Merei, Dana, 9 years old)

***

I wish to live and settle outside with my father, mother and aunt Hanan, because there is water, bread, electricity and everything. 

There are big toys for kids and delicious food.

(Ahmed Tabbaa, Ariha, 10 years old)

***

I want a remote control car, a laptop with games, and shawarma. There are many games that I like, especially one I can play with Ousay our neighbor. 

Santa Claus, please join us at school and make a party for us.

(Mustafa Banna, Termanin, 10 years old)

***

I wish to return to our house in Aleppo that was demolished with a missile.

I wish situations will cool down so that I can return to my old school and join the 6th grade.

(Amena al-Rawi, Aleppo, 10 years old)

***

My wish is to bring me a big plastic bag full of delicious snacks; potato chips, chocolates and sweets.

And please to return my sister, Asmaa, after she died from torture. 

We do not have diesel for heat at our house. 

(Ahlam Khalil Mohammed, Dana, 9 years old)

***

I wish for the bombing to stop and for schools to not be closed.

And bring us TV to watch children’s programs.

And a new mobile to connect with Tom.

(Mona Zeno, Kafar Takhareem, 7 years old)

***

I wish to visit my friends Mohammad and Hadi and play together and to have a soccer court in our neighborhood. 

(Muhannad Farouk, Dana, 11 years old)

***

We want to go back to our home and go back to school and wear new clothes.

(Salam Haj Ibrahim, Kafrroma, 10 years old)

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I want a party for my birthday and lots of gifts.

I want to invite my friends and I want games, balloons and decorations on every wall.

(Zena Naasan, Daraya, 10 years old)

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I wish to have a house and in that house there is rice, bread and water and we never have to come back here again.

(Shahd Dawoud, Binnish, 10 years old)

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My dream is to build a house for us, for you to bring me a bicycle, to be back in our neighborhood and for the rain to stop.

(Shatha Hajj Hassan, Dana, 10 years old)

***

I want warm boots.

(Uosra Eido, Zerdna, 7 years old)

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I don’t want gifts. I want to go fight with my brother.

(Jihad Abdul-Jabbar, Idlib, 12 years old)

***

No Santa Claus…

But I want the world to stop the war. We are tired.

I am in the fourth grade and should be in the sixth grade. 

I’ve been out of school for two years and I want to be an engineer.

(Lehman Arabs, Idlib, 12 years old)

***

I’d love to have a wedding dress and red shoes.

I’d love to get my mom an automatic washing machine

and for us to have our own house.

(Amira Haji Ahmad, Idlib, 12 years old)

***

Hello,

I wish to my friends and to go back to my school.

I want to go to the university when I grow up.

(Samar Aktham, Zerdna, 12 years old)

***

I want a car for my father so we can go on a trip and visit our grandfather and for my brothers to return from Germany for the feast.

 (Omar Salem, Kafar Takhareem, 10 years old)

***

I want a black pistol, a remote control plane, and a suit of clothes that fit me.

(Koutaiba Helli, Salqeen,  9 years old)

***

I wish for no one from my family to have died and for the war to stop. 

My brother, my aunt, her husband and my cousin Farah, who was in my class have all died.

I wish to continue our lives peacefully.

(Safa al Abdo, Salqeen, 12 years old)

Adapted from an article originally published in Arabic in The New Arab on December 23, 2016.