Identical Twins Share How Creative Arts Help Them Cope With Horrors Of Syria

The inseparable pair, who fled Damascus together, dress the same and confide in one another.
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Bombs and bullets forced identical twins Reem and Raghd from their home near Damascus in 2013.

Having escaped the horrors of the war in Syria, the 12-year-olds call a tent in a Jordanian refugee settlement home and they are educated by a volunteer in a tent.

The inseparable pair dress the same and confide in one another. If they did not have one another to share the burden of the horrors they have witnessed, they may be very different people.

Both find sanctuary in being creative. Reem sketches Syrian children while Raghd finds solace in writing poetry.

“To write something, I have to feel sad.” Raghd said: “In all honesty, I was remembering our past and I thought if I drew this that our situation will improve.

“It helps me to feel much better and relaxed.

“Sometimes, when I’m upset, I feel alone like there’s no one else.

Ghouta, the area from which the family escaped, remains under siege and

“This is a tree I drew, by drawing a tree I was trying to express simply how I feel about Syria,” she said, referring to her sketch. “I remember the street our house was on, the school, the classroom. When we would see a plane we would get scared. Of course when we would hear the sound and we would run in the house or we wouldn’t make it.”

“It helps because when you draw and you remember something bad, you can forget the past and just focus on what you are drawing.

“I can get everything out of my heart.”

They hope their creative abilities will inspire other Syrian girls to be ambitious about their future.

“Syrian girls shouldn’t lose hope as we will achieve our goals no matter what,” said Raghd.

Reem added: “I want to send a message to my country, to Syria, to all of the girls that they must keep trying until they reach their goals

“And that they continue to love each other and whatever their goal is they reach it and God willing we all return soon to Syria and reunite with all of our friends and those we love.”

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