When an urgent issue needs to be brought to limelight, then taking help of simple means is the best! Take for example the waves being created on the digital and Internet by a giant puppet named “Little Amal”.
This charming and endearing puppet is walking about 5,000 miles across Europe. The idea is not merely to get popularity but to draw attention of the people at large to the plight of hundreds and thousands of young refugees who along with their parents have fled Syria.
Already on the move, Amal, recently met the Pope and was greeted by His Holiness.
Who is Amal?
Standing over 11 feet tall, this cute puppet represents a Syrian refugee girl who is all but nine-years-old. She represents all the displaced children, many of whom have unfortunately been separate from their parents and family members.
The journey of Amal, which has been named as “The Walk”, is a joint project launched by Amir Nizar Zuabi, who is the artistic director of Britain’s Good Chance Theatre Company and Handspring Puppet Company.
Amal’s tour started in July at Gaziantep which is located in Turkey.
The project “The Walk” involving the puppet is not solely about the difficulties faced by the refugee children. According to Zuabi, who elaborated on this aspect in a video released last month in August: “We want to challenge the perception about the refugees. We want to talk about them not as an issue, not as a problem, but to talk about the potential they bring, about the cultural riches they come from and to honour their experience.”
Considering the size of Amal, she is controlled by four puppeteers as she walks around, meeting and shaking hands with people and children.
Talking about Amal’s visit to the Vatican, Cardinal Michael Czerny, the Under-Secretary for the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said, that it is very emotional to welcome a small unaccompanied migrant who is looking for her family.
Czerny commented: “Amal reminds us that there are many among us who we do not see. We see her because she is tall but the others are hidden and we are here to remember them and recognise those who need help.”
Making her stop at the Vatican, Amal will proceed to other countries on her journey. These nations include Germany, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom.
