Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Kiyiya Vuran Insanlik

(Photograph: Reuters)

a little boy 
who might have been mine
or yours

a little boy wearing
a red tee
and blue shorts

a little boy who will 
never be anything 
but

a body
on the sands
of a big, big world

----

The title translates to "Humanity Washed Ashore." The story is here. I'm sorry for the photo. I know it's crushing. It crushed me. 

We shouldn't need photos like this to make us act, but I think a good many of us probably do. (A different, happier Syrian refugee story reinforced this truth earlier in the week.) This boy, Aylan Kurdi, was one of thousands of Syrian refugees trying to flee Turkey for Greece, the gateway to the European Union. These are desperate people needing relief in a way I can't begin to comprehend, or impact. 

All we could think to do was donate money to the International Rescue Committee, a highly-regarded charity dedicated to helping refugees worldwide. If you'd like to do the same, please click here


4 comments:

Unknown said...

May the guy is given a best place by God. And the war where the boy come from stops soon.

Thanks for caring

Sarah Hina said...

Thanks for commenting, Syarifudin. I'm touched by your words.

Charles Gramlich said...

Hard to find any words in the face of such sadness

the walking man said...

We are both the bringers and unfolders of our own demise as a society spread across the world Sarah.