On Saturday, baby Afraa was enjoying herself, swinging on a red swing hanging from the ceiling while al-Sawadi pushed her back and forth.
Al-Sawadi said he spends the day at an apartment he rented but at night the family goes to a tent settlement to spend the night, as his children are still traumatized by the earthquake which killed more than 50,000 people in southern Turkey and northern Syria. The devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck in the early hours of Feb. 6, followed by multiple aftershocks. Among the hardest hit areas was rebel-held northwestern Syria that is home to some 4.5 million people, many of whom have been displaced by the country’s 12-year conflict that has killed half a million.
A day after the baby arrived at the hospital, officials there named her Aya — Arabic for “a sign from God.” After her aunt’s family adopted her, she was given a new name, Afraa, after her late mother.Days after Afraa was born, her adopted mother gave birth to a daughter, Attaa. Since then she has been breast-feeding both babies, al-Sawadi said.
Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)