I always seem to be saying ‘thank gosh for the ABC’, but it’s really, truly how I feel. They make the programs we need to see, bringing issues we might be more inclined to anxiously turn way from, into our lounge rooms or onto our catch up screens each week.
This week, Children On The Frontline on Four Corners follows Abu Ali and Hala Kamil (an engineer and a university graduate) and their four children; Mohammad, now 15, Helen, 13, Farah, 9, and Sara, 6. Filmed in 2014 in the family’s ‘home’ in Aleppo, Syria by brilliant photojournalist Marcel Mettelsiefen, this film lets the family tell the story of how life feels for them.
There are around 75 000 kids living in the war-torn city at present and this documentary gives us a more intimate glimpse, reframing something HUGE and unfathomable into something personal and relatable.
I have to say, watching these kids try to balance childhood with their traumatic, chaotic reality is a real wake-up call.
Even if you THINK you are pretty well-informed when it comes to the world’s refugee crises, this program will teach you really important things. Actually, these kids will teach you really important things. They have seen things no child should see and have to navigate dilemmas and challenges no child should have to. And yet they remain fierce, loving, hopeful and at times, poetic.
It does not feel good to explore what life might be like for families like this – but we have to. It’s much better to be informed and have a think about what each of us might do to help, don’t you think?
The people of Syria – especially the kids of Syria, many of whom have not known a life without war – do not deserve the hardship and horror they’re being forced to endure.
Leaving their homeland to seek asylum elsewhere is dangerous and may leave them at risk in camps or in the hands of people smugglers, facing peril yet again. What a freaking terrible mess it is.
The UN’s Syrian Appeal is here, in case you’d like to contribute. I reckon sending money – even a small amount – in the direction of people who are helping on the ground is a good start… Maybe you can think of something else to do?
‘Children On The Frontline’ is on Australia’s iView now, but it’s been shown in other parts of the world this year too, so see if you can track it down.
Other good stuff on my blog:
How To Make The Best After-School Chicken Wings
Whip Up Some Friendly Feel Good Soup
In Praise Of The Quiet Life
My I Spy: Something Beginning With ‘B’
Some Podcasts Your Ears Might Like