In the name of humanity

IN 2016, the Syrian government launched relentless attacks on Eastern Ghouta, near the capital Damascus. The attack was brutal; artillery dropped day and night, destroying every safe corner to hide. The more people tried to reach safety, the more they were attacked regardless of their age, gender, or religious background.

- By Buddika Harshadewa Amarathunga

In this chaos stood a half-constructed hospital in Ghouta with limited medical supplies and medical staff. In this massacre, most of the hospital staff fled the area, but one young doctor, 28-year-old Dr. Amani Ballour, chose to stay with 13 other volunteer doctors to treat the wounded. She assembled her treatment centre in the unfinished basement, operating on critically injured patients, many of them children and mothers.