War is like the Black Death. If it approaches you not even the strongest nuclear force can stop it from killing you, tearing your life apart and leaving an unforgettable impact on your life. But you can stop war from approaching you by fleeing it and abandoning your home, your country. There is nothing worse than your country that should be protecting you, being the place the kills you. 

On a Tuesday morning, the most vicious, immortal, pitiless thing was born, and it is about to reach its 12th birthday. Is it too late to say that the war in Syria has been forgotten as if it does not exist, but it is still there, tearing lives apart. It is now normal to hear how many people it has made refugees around the world and how many lives it has ended. People see everything on the news, but do they really hear it? We opened our eyes and instead of seeing it as home we saw it as the enemy. The enemy that kills us with no mercy. The enemy that takes our loved ones before we get to see the light. So, we had to run away from this enemy and throw everything to the past. 

As a four-year-old, I do not have a vivid image of how it was to be torn apart from your country, but I have scenes in my head that cannot be forgotten. I remember the sniper on the roof of the building shooting anyone and anything that made a single move on the streets. He played with people's precious lives as if it was a game. My parents thought moving to a different country would give a bright, promising future to their 6 children, all under 7 years old and born to this conflict. Taking the biggest risk, we took the sea from Egypt to Italy lasting 6 days, not knowing if we would survive this terrifying journey. To us, the beautiful blue sea was our worst nightmare. After the 3 first days and running out of food, we lost hope in this life. Until we saw the helicopters coming to rescue us after the great, frightening storm. 

We reached our destination after long, sleepless nights. But this did not feel like freedom. We do not belong here. We should not be here. A journey to freedom has now turned into a journey of belonging. Having the mindset that you do not belong anywhere is hard, but harder when the first place you did not belong to be your own country. Looking at all the people around us we see that everyone has a place they go to when they want love. The place we should be seeking love from is the place that ruined us.  

My father, Tariq Husein has always told us, “You only see a small part of the big plan God has made for you. The problems that occur in your life might be there to protect you from a bigger problem.” I have always had a dream to see my country getting freed and returning to the original beautiful form it was in before this war. The days are now slowly breaking me apart and making me lose hope in this life just like my country did.