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BOMBED: New exhibition gives voice to injured Syrians

Emergency Explosive weapons Rehabilitation
Jordan Lebanon Syria

A new exhibition, "BOMBED", gives a voice to Syrian refugees injured by explosive weapons. People like Sondos, 8, who was injured when her school in Syria was bombed.

Sondos, 8, ws injured in a bombing on her school in Syria.

© Philippe de Poulpiquet/Handicap International

8-year-old Sondos and her sisters arrived in Lebanon at the end of 2016. They are still deeply affected by what they went through in Syria, and are receiving psychological support from our team to cope with the trauma.

Sondos remembers, “...The plane came and bombed the school in front of us. My grandfather's hand and leg were broken. I ran to see how he was but my leg was hurt too.”

The little girl holds her teddy bear tightly in her arms and continues, “Even though I miss my country very much, here at least there are no planes, and I’m not frightened of going to school.”

Watch Sondos' story

About the exhibition

Sondos' moving story is featured in our new exhibition, "BOMBED", which gives a voice to Syrian refugees injured by explosive weapons.

In January 2017, French photographer Philippe de Poulpiquet spent two weeks with Handicap International’s teams in Jordan and Lebanon. Every day they went out to visit Syrian refugees, including numerous victims of explosive weapons. Their stories reflect the terrible reality shared by hundreds of thousands of Syrians since the beginning of the war in 2011.

The "BOMBED" exhibition is supported by ECHO (the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations), which contributes funds to Handicap International's response to the Syrian crisis.

Handicap International's response to the Syrian conflict

Since 2012, Handicap International has been working alongside the victims of the Syrian conflict, in particular people injured by explosive weapons.

The organisation currently has 500 saff members working to assist the most vulnerable, including people with injuries, people with disabilities, and people who are elderly or isolated.

Handicap International provides rehabilitation and orthopaedic fitting services, offers psychological support, ensures the most vulnerable have access to humanitarian aid, raises awareness of explosive remnants of war, conducts mine clearance work and distributes emergency kits.

Date published: 23/03/17

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