Mother’s day in Syria… a sad day for Adnan

On Thursday (21 March) it was mother’s day in Lebanon and Syria.

And I remembered Adnan, the ten-year-old Syrian boy I met a few days ago when interviewing new Syrian refugees coming into Arsal in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley.

Adnan’s story

Adnan, along with his father and elder sister, had just arrived from Hasibieh in Syria to join his two brothers who were already working in Lebanon before the start of the Syrian conflict.

When I first saw Adnan, he came across as very confident and brave.

It was only when he began to feel more comfortable answering our questions that he admitted he felt scared when he had heard the bombing and the shooting back in Syria.

The more we talked, the more he opened up and the more I began to understand the very difficult situation this family is facing.

“I was so scared”

“What is happening back home is scary, ” he says.

“People are getting killed and there is always bombing especially at night.

“A house was bombed just 300 metres away from our home. I felt that everything was shaking around me when this happened, I was so scared.

“What scared us the most is whenever there was bombing, you would think that it was very far, but then you would see bombing just very near you.

“It was not far at all.”

No words to describe the pain

Adnan didn’t tell us much about his family, but his sister, Batoul, mentioned that their mother had to stay behind in Syria because she did not have a permit to cross the border into Lebanon.

But I was really impressed with Adnan and I wanted to know what he thought about it, how he felt about it.

So I asked him if he missed his mother.

He suddenly became silent and covered his face with both hands to hide his tears.

He cried and so did everyone in the room.

Adnan couldn’t speak anymore; I couldn’t either. It was a very sad and emotional moment.

I realised that Adnan did not know if and when he will see his mother again.

And the worst part is there was nothing I could say or do to reassure him.

Mona, Communication and Advocacy Officer, Save the Children in Jordan