Just thinking about war -- Dear World / Bana Alabed and Other words for home / Jasmine Warga

 

War is a terrible thing. This image is a picture from the book Dear World. Bana Alabed was a 7-year-old child when she started Tweeting about the war that she was in the midst of, the war in Syria. Now she is 12 and Tweeting about the war in the Ukraine. She is not there but is angry that children must live through such horrors. 

Recently she Tweeted: 

The Scenarios are repeating themselves, the war has only one face that is Destruction. Each passing day is a real test for humanity. #StandWithUkraine️ #Ukraine️

Other Words for Home is a novel in verse, also about Syria. It is about Jude and her family living in a seaside community near Aleppo where Bana lived. Bana escaped Aleppo after the bombs destroyed her home. Jude, escaped Syria before the bombs found her home, but already there were soldiers and guns on each corner and life was getting dangerous.

Today we have war in the Ukraine. Again children are being harmed. Homes are being bombed. The whole world will be impacted by this world (the impact of this war has already impacted gas prices worldwide and may also impact food growth - half of the fertilizer that the world uses is made in Russia and the Ukraine.) It is important to understand the similarities between this war and all wars AND the specifics of the war in the Ukraine.

Read books, walk in the shoes of people who lived through war, develop empathy and understanding.

Read/Listen to the news. Learn what is going on in the world today. Even if you spend 10 minutes a day reading an article it will render you a better citizen of the world.