What Have I Done to Deserve This?

She walks with her tattered books and recycled notebooks tight against her chest. She advances hastily through the narrow and muddy streets without looking up from the ground. She does not want to stain her socks because there is no water or soap to wash clothes more than once a week. While she covers her usual route, she hears the nasty comments of some guys who have no other fun than harassing girls who dare to leave the precarious shelter of their family’s tent. She hits a rock and is about to fall but regains balance and keeps walking even though she has hurt her foot. She knows she has torn one sock but holds back the tears. Nothing will stop her. Finally, she reaches the tent- school and breathes deeply. She moves the dirty cloth that works as a threshold and sits on the old carpet. She's safe.

Surrounded by children of different ages, she focuses on what the teacher says and writes in the blackboard that covers the narrow side of the tent. A luxury achieved with great effort. Some restless boys nudges but she does not pay attention to them. She has her Bacaloriat exams in a couple of months and can not waste time with useless distractions. She must make the most of what will give her access to the institute of the nearest city. This will involve an hour trip to go and another to return in an old bus. She will have to go with her shabby clothes and no takeaways. But, for her is a great opportunity to get out from the hole she is stuck in. The University despite being miles and years away, seems a more reachable dream now.

Suddenly, a roar shakes the ground beneath their feet. The tent collapses on them. Luckily is only fabric. The children scream scared but they stay hidden under the folds of the tent. They have nowhere to go: they are Iraqis in a Syrian camp. While bombs are falling all around, Dina prays not to loose anymore members of her family. She does not remember because she was just three years old when her parents fled Iraq with her two brothers, but knows that neither her uncles nor her cousins ​​were so lucky. Ten years in a camp, hoping for a miracle to happen and now they are stuck with the civil war in Syria. And Dina keeps asking herself, what have I done to deserve this?