Kafarya & Foua diary entry 8/9/2015

Since the 27th March 2015, 150 children have been killed by NATO terrorists who have the villages under siege and under attack 24/7

“Zahraa found the idea of baking bread in the house very appealing. She was even more excited when she and her friends were told they could actually lend a hand, and didnt pay too much attention to the reasons behind the sudden appearance of this tradition in their daily lives.

The people of Kafarya and Foua didn’t resort to baking their own bread until the last functioning bakery supplying both villages had run out of fuel. Supplies had been unable to break through the terrorist siege. Eventually all supplies of wheat and seeds were also exhausted. As the shelling increased & essential supplies dwindled, the families baked and cooked less and less.
Once the shelling started, they would take refuge in one of the rooms that would be least vulnerable under rocket and mortar bombardment.

Zahraa however doesn’t understand the war or the siege.

When she tries to block out the sound of shelling, her hands clasped tight over her ears…her tears are triggered by an irrational hatred towards the oven they have used for baking for a while.
She blames herself for the happiness she felt back then, because now she thinks things have only got worse since they started using it.

She now prays desperately that the neighbourhood bakery will re-open because in her child’s mind that would bring back the old days of feeling safe and well fed. Days that seem so far away now in the shell shocked homes of Kafarya and Foua.”