Syria earthquake's "miracle baby" Afraa turns 1 year old | Turkey-Syria earthquake

Jandaris, Syria – It was a celebration of life for so many children and young people who survived one of the worst natural disasters in decades.

The large white tent was decorated with balloons and streamers, colorful games were marked on the floor, and hula hoops of all kinds were taking turns.

Some of those celebrated at the World Vision Party were among the debris from the massive earthquake that hit northwestern Syria and southern Turkey on February 6 last year, killing 4,500 people in Syria, including some There was also a baby, Afraa, born to the mother below. 50,000 people in Türkiye. She turns 1 on Tuesday.

“Ever since I was a child, people have said, 'Hope is born from suffering,'” said Khalil Shami al-Suwadi, Afraa's uncle by marriage.

“On the day of the earthquake, when I saw baby Afraa born under the rubble of my house, I realized how true that was,” he added.

Afraa looks up at her uncle cooing in the family tent. [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera] — Afra looks up at her uncle Khalil who gasps in his family's tent (March 2023) [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]

the whole family was wiped out

Jandaris, in rural Aleppo, was one of the worst-hit areas in the earthquake, which killed more than 510 people and injured at least 810, according to the Syrian Civil Defense Forces, also known as the White Helmets.

The day Afraa was born was the day Jandaris' house collapsed in an earthquake, and her parents and four siblings died.

She was named “Aya” by medical staff after she was rescued from the rubble and taken to hospital for treatment. Later, her aunt Hala and her uncle Khalil, who are the sisters of Afraa's father Abdullah, 26, changed her name to Afraa in honor of her late mother.

She lives with her uncle and aunt and six new siblings. The eldest is Mar Al Sham, who is 11 years old, and the youngest is another girl, Ataa, who was born two days after Afraa and will also turn one soon.

miracle baby syria — Baby Afraa, wearing a pink hat, sits on Khalil's lap with her cousin Ataa. Surrounding them are their cousin Shami (left), cousins Mariam (second from the right) and Doaa (right). [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]

Hara told Al Jazeera over the phone in March last year. She is my niece and my blood. Many people wanted to adopt her, but we didn't have it. We take care of her as we would her own children. ”

She is still being cared for by her aunt, along with her cousin Ata, and has recovered from broken ribs and bruises sustained under the rubble last year. Not only that, she's taking her first steps and babbling.

“I was so happy when she took her first steps. But I thought about her parents and how happy they would have been if they were with us,” says Al.・Swadi said.

“Baba” and “Mama”

“I have eight compartments in my heart for my wife and seven children.” [including Afraa]” said Al Suwadi. “She is a trust left to us by her parents. May she rest in peace.”

There is a very strong bond between Afraa and her cousin Doaa, who is seen here holding her. [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]

Afraa began speaking a few words, calling her aunt Hala and uncle Halil “mama” and “baba.”

“It wasn't the first time I heard the word 'Baba', but for some reason when Ahrar said that word, I felt a strange and indescribable feeling,” Al-Suwadi added.

Because Afrah spends all day with her big cousins, she is constantly trying to talk to them, making demands and telling them things that no one is sure she fully understands.

The children play, fight and sleep together, but there is a particularly strong bond between her and her 8-year-old cousin Doa.

“I love all my siblings, but I love Afraa the most,'' Doa confessed. “I love playing with her and being near her,” she says, adding that it's a two-way street, with Afrah preferring to be with Doaa all the time, including when playing and sleeping. he added.

Doaa holds Afraa in his arms outside the family tent. — Doaa holds Aphra in her arms outside her family's tent in March 2023. [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]

“If she cries, her mom will hold her. But that doesn't work and she keeps crying. But as soon as I picked her up, she stopped crying,” Dore said.

Al Suwadi and his wife are hopeful and looking forward to the future with their seven children, but their sunny outlook is sometimes clouded by occasional aftershocks that remind them of what happened a year ago. .

“What happened to us at Jandaris was a disaster in every sense of the word. We pray that it will never happen again,” he added.

But for one afternoon, inside that lively, decorated tent, the children and their caretakers gathered to talk about their experiences, celebrate being there together, and watch the growth of almost one-year-old Afraa. I was able to marvel at it.

Malik Abdulghani, director of World Vision's education program, told Al Jazeera: “Welcoming Afraa to this event, so close to her birthday and the anniversary of the earthquake, shows that at the heart of every hardship there is hope. It symbolizes that,” he said.