Larger than life-size puppet, Amal, raises awareness on children's plight in war-ridden countries
"In Arabic, Amal means 'Hope'..."
The effects of war can be truly devastating. And we are only secondarily affected by it.
Having to deal with the rising costs in food, transport and housing (amongst everything else) is somewhat simple in comparison to running to save your life.
Not to mention losing your parents and loved ones and having to live in refugee campsites, sometimes illegally.
This is why it was so uplifting to see that amidst all the hatred a symbol of 'hope' is trying to shed light on a topic that we sometimes forget.
Amal, is a 12-foot (3.6m) puppet that is making her way around several countries. She represents a 10-year-old Syrian refugee from Aleppo searching for her mother.
Her name literally means 'Hope' in Arabic and she recently visited the United States of America, where she appeared on popular day time show, The View.
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Her message in being this larger-than-life puppet is to "make sure nobody forgets about the children fleeing war, violence and oppression around the world." (ABC News)
Artistic Director Amir Nizar Zubai is the brains behind the international symbol of human rights and shared the importance of Amal's journey in spreading awareness.
"We wanted to create a project that honors this long journey across Europe that refugees take," Zubai said. "Knowing the problem of refugees is an ongoing problem in the world caused by climate change, wars, conflict, and we wanted to create a project [that] honors them, but is also theater." (ABC News)
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In case you're wondering how she moves around, considering her height and larger-than-life appearance, she was built by the Handspring Puppet Company in Cape Town, South Africa.
They were responsible in engineering the puppetry.
"It took approximately five months to make Amal, and requires the internal puppeteer to stand on stilts that are over 3-feet tall. The internal puppeteer controls the movements for her legs, head and face, while two additional puppeteers take on her arm movements." (ABC News)
WATCH parts of her visit to the show The View below, courtesy of Instagram.
Image Courtesy of Instagram