GOOD NEWS ALERT: I wrote this piece for @ForeignPolicy in 2016 about Syrian refugee kids attempting suicide. I interviewed a 12-year-old girl who swallowed rat poison so she wouldn't be a burden on her mother anymore. I know, but wait for the good part...foreignpolicy.com/2016/06/29/syr…
After my story came out, the incredible @gilesduley, who introduced me to this girl, helped raise a sizable sum of money to help her family. It was distributed monthly over time instead of all at once, so she has been able to go to school and have a roof over her head ever since.
SHE TURNED 17 YEARS OLD TODAY AND FRIENDED ME ON FACEBOOK and she's beautiful and smart and speaks great English! It's rare for journalists to see anything we write make an actual, tangible difference in someone's life. I'm not crying, I swear. Okay I am but I don't care! Yayyyyy
Many thanks to @DavidKenner, the editor I worked with at FP at the time. Refugee stories were becoming near-impossible to sell by then, but David accepted the piece after I cornered him at a Beirut bar, most probably to make me leave him alone--but thank you anyway David!
P.S. I asked if she wants to get married and she said no way for a while, she wants to be a doctor. This is the same girl who told me at 12 years old when I asked if she would attempt suicide again "If the situation for us [refugees] doesn't change, we should all kill ourselves."
