Page 28 - 10th Annual International Charles Town Maroon Conference and Festival Magazine

June 2018 Charles Town Maroon International Conference Magazine

But when the shelling of my city began we fled. My
brother was very scared for what might happen to the Every day meant more martyrs and more wounded.
parrot. After fifteen days when the situation had The hospitals were taking in a lot of serious cases
calmed down we asked my uncle to return the parrot including amputations and paralysis. They were using
to us. We were surprised to hear that he had sold the weapons against us like rockets, explosive barrels,
parrot without my brother’s permission; he had done cluster bombs and certain rockets we have never even
that because our house was destroyed and there was heard of. Doctors were doing everything they could
no more food for the parrot left in the markets. We but there was a huge lack of drugs and analgesics. We
were very sad. My brother and I cried. We loved it with experienced a lot of difficulties, a lot of fear and
all our hearts, it had become a member of our family. oppression.
We lost many things during this conflict. Things we
loved, things that were close to our hearts. We After all this, they decided to deport us from our
struggled with displacement after our house was country. We emerged from the shelters and saw the
destroyed. We lost our home in 2013. The bombing enormous destruction throughout the country. Then we
campaigns throughout Syria increased day after day packed our bags and left Ghouta for Idlib. After all that
until I witnessed the violent bombardment of Eastern suffering we had to leave our country. They destroyed
Ghouta. I began filming videos to convey to the world everything and they forced us out of the country.
the suffering of the people. I wanted the world to know
the truth, I wanted everyone to know what the Syrian
Then they claimed victory.
regime was trying to hide.
They won with rockets and barrel bombs.

Bombardment, destruction of homes, killing innocent I hate all this bombing.
people, besieging people, death. We have lost everything.

We had to grow up quickly because of these attacks.
The Assad regime besieged Ghouta from all sides.
They deprived us of everything. Everything became How will our memories survive?
so expensive. The shelling continued on a daily basis.
Then another violent campaign began with the support - Muhammad Najem
of Russia which involved all kinds of weapons
prohibited by the international community.

Everything was destroyed. Buildings, hospitals,
mosques, schools.

We stayed in the basement for thirty days… the whole
time without seeing any sunlight. The bombing was
hysterical. I lost my uncle during the violent campaign.
He was wounded while in the cellar. He bled to death
there in that cellar. We couldn’t leave and take him
anywhere because the hospital had been shelled. They
directly targeted residential buildings, hospitals,
schools and shelters.

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