Youth

It is no secret that the Syrian people face hardship and discrimination in many parts of the world. Here in eastern Türkiye it is no different. Even for the children who were born and raised here, they are often looked down upon and treated as outcasts in the only home they have ever known.

Siirt is a beautiful old city in the Kurdish region of eastern Türkiye, but these three lovely sisters, Syrian Kurds, are all too often alone here. They have each other, and are always together, but if the place where a child is born doesn’t feel like home, something is not right in this world.

Ever since they’ve been told to keep out of this motorcycle cart, they just can’t help themselves.

For the last 25 minutes this young boy has been preparing his kite for take-off, running down the hillside that leads to this launch pad, and harnessing just the right amount of wind for this perfect moment of flight.

This is his city of Mardin, built on the southern-facing slope of a mountainside that overlooks the limestone plateau of the Syrian border, and the horizon of a world beyond him.

He flies his kite from here every day, watching it climb high as his imagination soars. On the days he craves adventure he rides its wings across the world to learn what lives beyond him. On the days he feels alone, he holds his kite straight and tight and steadies it above him like a beacon of light, a chance for the world to find him.