Thursday, December 01, 2016
The social worker, who got married only two months ago, would don bright make up and a long, orange wig to cheer up the children who have lost their families in the five-year-long war
A social worker who dressed up as a clown to cheer up traumatised and hopeless children in war-ravaged Aleppo is believed to have been killed in an airstrike.
Anas al-Basha, 24, refused to leave the besieged Syrian city with his parents - and tens of thousands of others - when the government advanced on rebel groups in the east last summer.
And he continued to don his bright make-up, orange wig and flowery yellow hat to entertain local kids during the fiercest bombing raids since the Syrian Civil War began.
Mr al-Basha, known as the Clown of Aleppo, was killed in a suspected Russian or Syrian bombing raid on the eastern Mashhad neighborhood on Tuesday.
His brother Mahmoud has since left a heart wrenching tribute to the man who helped provide counseling and financial support for hundreds of orphaned children through his charity Space for Hope.
'He lived to make children laugh and happy in the darkest, most dangerous place on this world,' Mahmoud, who still lives in Aleppo, wrote on Facebook.
'I was not able to say the last farewell to him because Aleppo city has been under siege for 112 days.
'All what Anas wanted is to bring happiness to the children of Aleppo. I am proud of you my brother. May you rest in peace in a place better than this cruel world.'
When Anas' parents fled the city last summer, before the government began its siege on the rebel-held eastern districts, he chose to stay and sent them what little money he received.
His supervisor Samar Hijazi, one of 34 Space for Hope staff who remained in the city as the five-year-long war unfolded, says he will remembered as a friend who loved to work with children.
She went on: 'He would act out skits for the children to break the walls between them.'
Anas al-Basha, pictured, a social worker who dressed up as a clown to entertain the children of war-torn Aleppo is believed to have been killed in an airstrike
Hijazi said the war has been just as trying for the men and women looking after the orphaned children as it has been for the toddlers themselves.
She went on: 'All of us in this field [of childcare] are exhausted, and we have to find strength to provide psychological support and continue with our work.'
Space for Hope has suspended its operations in Aleppo for now, as the government renews its assault on the city's eastern neighborhood.
Eastern Aleppo had been under siege for four months and thousands have been left without access to food or water.
Around 20,000 have left their homes - and dozens killed - in the last four days alone.
Many of them have sought shelter in the government-held town of Jibrin, around six miles from war-torn Aleppo.
Fawwaz al-Ashaari, who lost his eldest son and his home in the onslaught, finally decided to join the mass exodus as the fighting got closer.
'I can't lose any more,' he said in a makeshift home in Jibrin, his back propped up against a black suitcase containing all his worldly belongings.
Mr al-Basha, 24, decided to stay in the besieged city when his parents fled last summer, fearing they would die in the government offensive on rebel-held eastern neighbourhoods
He says he now has one simple wish: 'The rest of my children only want to live in safety. They have seen death several times. I want them to know life.'
Mr Ashaari and his family lived in the Sakhur neighbourhood, where they had endured more than four years of bombardment since the rebels seized it in 2012.
But as government troops and allied fighters overran it this week, they set off on the treacherous journey across the front lines.
They are among hundreds of homeless now housed in the three concrete blocks that make up the Jibrin reception centre.
A crowd of new arrivals - mostly women and children - waited in the cold to register their names with Syrian authorities and receive food, mattresses and blankets.
Dozens of others huddled under charcoal-grey blankets, trying to keep warm and dry as rain drizzled outside.
More than 250,000 civilians stayed on in east Aleppo under rebel rule but after the government launched a renewed offensive to retake the whole city earlier this year, several ceasefires have given civilians time to flee.