Bana Alabed, the Syrian girl who made headlines around the world after tweeting from Aleppo, has now written a heartfelt letter
Seven-year-old Syrian girl Bana Alabed has been top of the news since she tweeted her experiences of living in eastern Aleppo. Together, with her mother Fatemah Alabed, the Global peace activists have brought the world's attention to what Syrian families are suffering.
The Alabed family have since been moved to safety in Turkey, but their activism still remains top of their agenda.
Now, Bana has penned a handwritten letter to President Donald Trump asking for his help:
'Dear Donald Trump,
My name is Bana Alabed and I am a seven years old Syrian girl from Aleppo.
I lived in Syria my whole life before I left from besieged East Aleppo on December last year. I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war.
But right now, I am having a peace in my new home of Turkey. In Aleppo, I was in school but soon it was destroyed because of the bombing.
Some of my friends died.
I am very sad about them and wish they were with me because we would play together by right now. I couldn't play in Aleppo, it was the city of death.
Right now in Turkey, I can go out and enjoy. I can go to school although I didn't yet. That is why peace is important for everyone including you.
However, millions of Syrian children are not like me right now and suffering in different parts of Syria. They are suffering because of adult people.
I know you will be the president of America, so can you please save the children and people of Syria? You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you.
If you promise me you will do something for the children of Syria, I am already your new friend.
I am looking forward to what you will do for the children of Syria.'
Her heartfelt appeal to Donald Trump comes after Russia, Turkey and Iran have agreed on a ceasefire in Syria for three weeks while peace talks are under way. However, the world is awaiting to see if Assad's government and the rebel forces will agree - and, indeed, if the US president will reply.
On 5th December, we wrote...
With over 323K followers on Twitter, Bana Alabed and her Syrian family living in rebel-held eastern Aleppo captured the hearts of the world by tweeting about their experiences. Written mostly by seven-year-old Bana, and managed by her mother Fatemah, the pair have been offering insight into the current situation away from the headlines.
And, this morning it was reported that she, along with an estimated 3,000 other civilians have reached safety after a delayed weekend of evacuations. The president of the Syrian American Medical Society tweeted this photo of Bana, and her father, in the safety of the Aleppo countryside.
But, although the Alabed family have arrived safely to the rebel-held province of Idlib in the west of Aleppo, the conditions are far from ideal. There are still families without shelter, food or medical care - and the area is still at high risk of being hit by air strikes.
And there's no reason for us to feel helpless while reading these headlines as there are practical ways we can help Aleppo right now, too.
On November 29th, we wrote...
Bana and her mother have been sharing photos of Bana attempting to live as normal a childhood as possible around the ruined city that surrounds her. They gained even more global recognition when Bana tweeted about her love for Harry Potter, saying that she likes to read to 'forget the war' around her, and within an hour, author JK Rowling had replied.
After Bana watched one of the Harry Potter films, Fatemah asked how she could get hold of a book for her daughter and JK Rowling and her exchanged tweets until they were eventually able to send over an e-book for Bana and her brothers to enjoy.
For four years, the north Syrian city of Aleppo has been a battleground between President Bashar al-Assad and Western-backed rebels attempting to overthrow him. Aleppo was formerly Syria's largest city, once a Unesco World Heritage site famous for its beautiful panoramic views, souks, citadels and mosques. As the former industrial and financial centre of the country, it was once populated by 2.3 million inhabitants but having been hit with food and fuel shortages, as well as air strikes, thousands have died, and this month has seen all hospitals in eastern Aleppo out of action.
And late on Sunday night, Bana's house in the Syrian war zone was bombed and she shared a message that broke our hearts and took over our news feeds.
The world will all be keeping an eye on her Twitter account, hoping her family makes it through, while also keeping all the other families and victims of this civil war in our thoughts and prayers.
