Sandra Awad*

An open letter to the US president from a member of Caritas Syria. The story of a young man who lost a leg in the explosion of a rocket launched by the rebels in Ghouta. Thanks to the prosthesis he is walking again and wants to participate in the reconstruction of his country. Meanwhile, Moscow and Washington continue their war of words. The UN Security Council is ready to meet, in the Mediterranean warships and fighters ready to strike.

While 2 days of UN peace talks on Syria open in Vienna, people are still dying on the ground. Since the beginning of the year the capital is object of an incessant launch of mortars. The dramatic story from the hospital that has welcomed the dead and wounded. The silence of the Western media on the unfolding tragedy.

Since 2011, more than 300,000 people have been injured or wounded in the country's civil war, many permanently. People with disabilities need long-term care, but lack facilities. Hospitals have been forced to discharge patients to meet emergencies. Without “Jesus Christ, I would have collapsed long time ago,” said Georgette, who was hit by a sniper as she was going home after a baptism.

Over 500 children have attended a show dedicated to the "birth of peace". In Damascus, there is no water and electricity; but in the dark you can see the "light" that illuminates the world. Toys, scarves, gloves and wool socks distributed to children most in need. A young actor says: Peace is not only a miracle but "we are the first who must build it".

Fighters are destroying infrastructure, factories and buildings with their "big shoes". Displaced people, food shortages, education, migration, abandoned seniors and children playing at war are the consequences of the conflict. More than aid, people just want peace. The spokeswoman of the Catholic charity sends a letter for International Day of Peace.

In a letter to AsiaNews, Caritas’s communications director talks about the message of hope Pope Francis expressed for her country. Small deeds, like preparing a meal together, are a sign that peace is possible, that it is only a matter of time. Tomorrow 175 Caritas workers are set to meet for a training course.

In a letter to AsiaNews, the director of Communications for Caritas describes the days of celebration, a source of "hope". The eyes of people “were full of joy.” Perhaps, war and death “showed us the real meaning of resurrection”. For Christians, “Syria is more than a house”; it is "our identity. Syria is us, and we are Syria."