On Friday, September 22, eighteen students of Aiken marched alongside a 12-ft puppet downtown in recognition of the world refugee crisis. They started first on the Roebling Bridge and walked to the Freedom Center.  Students from multiple countries and background came together to tell the story of Little Amal, a girl who immigrated from the borders of Syria and walked 8,000 km to search for her mother. Students attended her arrival to Cincinnati, holding up signs that said “Hope Away from Home” in various languages.

“Seeing her was a wonderful opportunity,” said  Junior Razan Dabdoub. “This puppet means a lot to me. When I see her, I can see the suffering of every Syrian child, my suffering, and the suffering of many others. From those I know, this puppet embodies a tragedy that we lived through, but we search for hope, walking on our feet until we crawled. Amal represents patience, hope, and cohesion. I am happy to see Little Amal spreading part of our story to this world that still does not know what happened to us. WELCOME LITTLE AMAL!”

“Little Amal is basically hope for refugees,” adds Junior Aklile Dawit. “She’s just like a doll of hope. She’s hope, that’s the one word I can describe her as.”