“I love you beyond imagination”
After taking care of the children for almost a year, it was time for Jamalat to say goodbye. All five children were relocated to Australia, where they are currently under the care of a local nonprofit.
“I cannot forget the moments I spent with them, especially with Noor al-Deen,” Jamalat recalls tearfully, pointing to one child as she scrolls through photos on her phone. “I was helping him zip up his jacket before he left, when Mr. Mohammed [an officer from the United Nations refugee agency] asked if the children were ready. Noor al-Deen said ‘Mama’ and the word trembled on his lips. I didn’t want the kids to leave. But their future is more important than our sentiments.”
Jamalat still keeps the children’s drawings and photos on the walls of her home in Zaatari. It’s hard for her to imagine them far away in the Pacific, but her dark eyes are bright and hopeful, knowing they will be reunited one day.
“I love you beyond imagination,” she says to the children in the photos. “We will all return to Syria together and live the best life—the one you’ve always dreamt about.”
Posted in Children & Youth, Syria Crisis, Jordan