Syrian children make ‘amazing face masks’ in Germany

On this table, you can see pieces of cloth, a sewing machine, a lot of love, and passion you in one of the houses located in the German capital, Berlin, where Darin, 11 years old, sits along with her little sister Ferial, 7 years old, and her brother Nidal, 9 years old.

Three hundred masks have been made since the moment at which Darin’s family, who fled to Germany from Syria, have decided to sew face masks and distribute them for free to everyone who needs them.

Her father helped them a lot in reaching this figure as he works as a tailor and has a great experience in this field. 

Although Germany is heading towards lifting the lockdown due to the gradual spread of the coronavirus, it will keep the measures of wearing face masks in public transport in place to prevent the relapse of the infection.

So Darin’s family decided to continue their work of making protective face masks that have become part of their daily routine during the in-home quarantine.

“The mission of the three siblings is not easy in this process,” explains Darin to Tiny Hand. After their father cuts the large piece of cloth into small pieces, they clean them from the untrimmed string ends and then insert the rubber string into them. Afterward, their father starts sewing them into the final shape of the mask. 

It seems that the sound of this sewing machine was heard by their German neighbors, particularly their neighbor on the fourth floor, who brought them a piece of cloth and asked them to sew a face mask for her, and this is what they did for her.

The residents of the building had their share of these face masks that the children distributed to them, especially their German neighbor who is a very old man!

This old aged-neighbor to the Syrian family did not have such an amicable relationship with them; he would look at them angrily whenever he met with them on the stairs. “However, all that has changed when they granted him a face mask,” Nidal told Tiny Hand. 

The three siblings, Darin, Nidal, and Ferial, did not expect that a face mask gift would totally change the way their German neighbor treats them. Nidal pointed out, “His angry looks have turned into a loving greeting with chocolate bars, which he presents to the Syrian children.” 

The man was astonished by their behavior, especially that he is one of the elderly citizens who is one of many elderly people that have been recommended by the German government not to leave their houses.

The Syrian family offered to bring what he needed from the supermarket. But what matters most to children now is that this “amazing mask” brought them closer to their German neighbor. Not only that, they feel happy because they “give masks to every person who cannot buy or get them,” says Ferial, the youngest of her siblings.

In a country like Germany where nearly 3,000 people have died of infection with the coronavirus, little Ferial is afraid of “death” and is eager to save the country from this pandemic.

Now the work is over today and each of the three children  started to do their daily activities, studying their lessons via Skype, playing together, and helping their mother.

They are always looking forward to that moment when they are told they can leave the house and return to the life they created in Germany after they left their home country, Syria, 5 years ago.