In 2017, TV 2 met the little girl Wafaa Kayari in a refugee camp in Syria.
– My eyes, they burn, said the nine-year-old who had severe burns from the war in Syria. Grenades had struck the family home.
She couldn’t close her eyes. The injuries had deprived the girl of the opportunity to rest her gaze.
Bacteria infected, eyes burned.
And the nine-year-old did not want to go to school. The others in the class bullied her, according to her mother.
The parents could not afford the treatment that their daughter desperately needed.
The story mobilized help, including through funds collected in Norway. The nine-year-old eventually received treatment.
Runs out in freezing weather
It is evening in the war-torn city of Aleppo, five years after the treatment of Wafaa Kayari in 2018.
The 15-year-old is sleeping.
Suddenly the house shakes. The worst natural disaster our generation has experienced in the region has begun. The earthquake is measured at 7.8.
Ever since the earthquake, TV 2 has tried to reach Wafaa and her family. When we finally get in touch, she tells us about the dramatic night.
The family wakes up. They run out of the building.
– It rained a lot and was freezing cold, says Wafaa to TV 2.
– We saw that the walls of the neighbour’s house fell towards our house. In addition, large stones fell.
The neighborhood no longer exists. Kayari says that the area is completely destroyed, full of collapsed houses.
ITALY: Wafaa received help with the fire damage in Italy after, among other things, a fundraising campaign in Norway. Photo: Aage Aune/TV 2
Asking for help
Some of the neighbors were also injured.
– I am sorry for them. I am very sorry now, says the girl who once again has to flee from her home.
– We are in a very difficult situation. My father cannot afford to give me the treatment I need.
That’s why the 15-year-old wants someone to help.
– I ask everyone who can, to help us. I hope that I will get better, like I was before.
No more treatment
Wafaa Kayari thanks the World Health Organization (WHO) for the help she has received with the burns. Two or three years ago, she moved back in with her family.
She was initially told that she would have another operation, but someone contacted her father two months ago. They told her that she would not have another operation.
– But I thank them very much for all the help I have received. They said they could not give me more treatment and said they hoped I would feel better eventually.
The fire damage is still difficult for the 15-year-old.
BEFORE: Wafaa before the shells hit the family home during the war in Syria Photo: Aage Aune/TV 2
– I have felt very broken down, especially after this earthquake. For example, when I walk down the street, people stare at me. I feel like they look down on me. Then I go back home straight away and lock myself in.
At the same time, the 15-year-old says that she has a lot of good friends. They have also experienced that their houses have been destroyed in the earthquake.
Once again, the future lies in ruins
After the civil war, the family had created a new home in Aleppo. Now the house is a ruin.
– We were visited by a person who inspected the house. He said that unfortunately we could not continue to live there. No one was allowed to enter the house.
They receive neither help from authorities nor aid organisations. It is the heart room of other people locally that provides shelter after the earthquake.
– The people we live with now are very nice to us.
The Syrians were let down
Local residents have had to dig with their bare hands, without the help of machines or experienced search crews. The International emergency aid did not arrive in time to the many earthquake victims in the country.
The Syrians were let down by us, according to the UN’s emergency aid chief, Martin Griffith.
– We have failed the people in northwestern Syria. They may rightly feel abandoned, Griffith said.
The critical time to help people trapped in the rubble has passed.
About 5,000 people have been confirmed dead in Syria. It is expected that the death toll will rise considerably in the future.
