Two years ago Robert X. Fogarty and I visited & photographed Syrian refugees at the world’s second largest refugee camp. This was camp was located on the border of Jordan and Syria with over 400,000 at the time. Since many have relocated or fled due to harsh/unsustainable living conditions for their families.
Through a partnership with Care International & Dear World visited for a week and met with hundreds of individuals, leaders & children alike.
There are hundreds of thousands of these children and people who need our help. Will we turn a blind eye?
This has been going on for years now, simmering into a boil. ISIS wants you to hate them, to turn your back on them. We have been turning our backs, now, even more so.
To this point, check out Mohammad’s portrait and his message “My name is Mohammad, and I am not a terrorist”. I personally talked with Mohammad for almost 30 minutes, met his mother. His story moved me to tears. His legs were covered with electrical burns from torture only weeks before. His mother told me. He downplayed the tragedy in an effort to stay positive.
My heart was broken. Now, the tragedy and much of America’s response is beyond my comprehension.
Please look into the faces of these people, their stories. Please reconsider what it means to be American, what it means to be human. To help others in need- especially in a moment of crisis, even if we put our bodies and welfare at risk. If we save even one child, maybe it was worth it.
In your words, tweets, statuses, please consider these people, who are the vast majority of Syrians.
See the full portrait series at http://syria.dearworld.me – we were covered in the Independent, Buzzfeed, HuffPo, Fox News, and out global outlets worldwide.