#SaraReads: Essay- A tree from Syria, speaks up
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
‘Craaa, creeeak!’ I sang along with the wind. I am a very old Alepo Pine tree. My name is Alep. I live in Syria and am the tallest and only tree in my district.
I was born and brought up here. This has been my home for as long as I can remember. With the civil war going on it, hasn’t been easy but an old man sacrificed his safety and precious water to help me survive. I am very grateful to him. Sadly, these days he stopped coming. I often wonder what happened to him. Well, only the sun and the sky know.
There is a drought coming very soon because of all the bombing and that is why I need to save up on my reserve of sap. As I look back at the bygone years I think…How did I manage to survive? My roots are watered with the agony and pain of people.
What were my bountiful branches growing due to? A sacrifice, that’s what! It cost so many people their lives to keep me going. Sometimes I just wish that I’d go to sleep one day and never wake up. But, when I think in this context, a nagging, haughty and proud voice inside me says, ‘You gave so much to them too.”
How many people have lied underneath your shade? How many people have taken in the sweet smell of your needles as it reminded them of home before the war? So many people have caused you so much pain by hacking your branches off!
You have comforted so any people as they gripped your trunk and cried. You are the only living thing in about a 100-metre radius. You are a sign of peace, a sign of resilience! Be proud, be happy, and live long! This inspires me to live and be stronger than ever for these poor people.
I am still alive and healthy and I am still standing, as a sign of peace, a sign of love and care and probably the only bit of life the people of Syria can rely on. I will continue to stand until the war ends. I will stand as a beacon of hope, of freedom, of love for the people of Syria, even if they don’t want me to. All these humans have no care for anything alive.
People in Syria are homeless, sad and are almost drowning in misery but nobody will do anything to help them out and they expect those poor people to help them out afterwards. Even after 200000 years on earth, these humans will not change. Such is the world we live in.
