In February 2014, while I was doing humanitarian relief work in Harasta, I decided to open a charity kitchen to serve food to those in need.
As premises for my project, I chose a small farmhouse. There I met Abu Steif, the caretaker, a kindly 40-year-old whose gentle nature had not been hardened by war.
The explosion
I drove off to deliver the goods, and was barely gone two hours, but when I returned, I was met with devastating news. There was a pool of blood outside the farmhouse, and Abu Steif sat next to it weeping.
He told me he had been indoors when he heard an explosion. He ran out to get Mohammed, only to find him lying on the ground covered in blood.
When we reached the Douma hospital, we were told that Mohammed was undergoing an operation. Two hours later, they came out and told us that Mohammed was in critical condition. Both legs and both hands had been amputated and he had been blinded in both eyes.
Læs hele artiklen hos Institute For War and Peace Reporting (IWPR)
