Chapter 1
My name is Wahida . My people tell me again and again the story of how i was saved . i know you might not know about it yet and i dont really remember it cause i was one month old at that time but i have been reminded of this so much that i can narrate to you in full detail the story of my second chance .
I belong to a very beautiful city you know . Its name is Idlib . Do you know about this place ? . I can tell you about it .
You know i have heard we used to have big buildings here and roads . Uncle told me about the gardens he used to own here in Idlib . And the shops . He told me my parents used to live nearby and we used to have a beautiful house there . I sometimes think uncle is not telling me the truth cause i see none of it around .
All i see is rubble and broken landscape . I see a lot of airplanes though that come with a lot of sound and that is when we are supposed to hide . I dont know why but my uncle told me that these planes come and take people to a new place . He says that is where mama and baba and my brother have gone . I sometimes used to think that they have forgotten me here . I dont know when they will come back or when will i be as uncle says ‘’ grown up ‘’ enough to understand .
Anyway , I was telling you about my hero wasn’t I ?
The one who saved me when i was one month old . He was a tailor before he joined a group we call ″ Angels ″ here in Syria . People also call them white helmets , obviously because of their white helmets .
You might not know about them but these are people uncle says from all professions , who decide to become heroes. When these planes come to take people away they sometimes bomb buildings to find people and these angels go to these places to help the people stay with their families .
My angel’s name was Mohammad dib al har . Yes i know you won’t remember . we also call him Abu Kifah meaning the father of those who struggle . Quite literally though my hero saved many lives ....
So what happened that day was that one of these planes came flying ; They say from Russia . When we heard the noise outside, my family decided the usual ; Hide inside the home . But that day the plane decimated my house completely cause the bomb fell right above it . I was buried under all the house rubble . My hero came in without caring about his own life . He pulled me out . I was all covered in ash and had a lot of wounds . He told me later on he had cried a lot that day and though he was himself just 22 he said i was his daughter from now . I met him again some weeks later . I looked better and my wounds were starting to heal . You know i have a photo with my hero too .
You know my hero says soon i will have a sibling cause his wife is pregnant . I am so happy i can’t tell you all . His wife loves me too . It can be our little family .
Today he was in his volunteering camp with 6 other people who became heroes for many other human beings . It was night time . They say someone came in and shot a bullet at my hero and killed him and along with him killed others too . In the morning all they saw was blood and their bodies lying there .
They still are our heroes and will always be .
They taught me the truest form of selflessness and to what extend can a human being love another . I will still be his daughter that he never fathered . And the new sibling about to come will still be my brother / sister for my life , till it ends .
Abu Kifah was killed on 13 august 2017 along with many other white helmet volunteers in Idlib , Syria .
"when i want to save someone’s life , i dont care if he is a enemy or a friend .What concerns me is the soul that might die “ - Abed The White Helmets
