Middle East

Here's What You Can Do Now To Help People In Syria

The image of Omran Daqneesh may have gone viral, but there are kids like him in Syria every day. Here's what you can do to help change that.

Here's What You Can Do Now To Help People In Syria
Dr. Zaher Sahloul / SAMS
SMS

"The question for us, for people seeing these pictures: What else? Isn't there a responsibility for us to do something else? And we've been seeing these pictures come from Syria for the past five years," said Dr. Zaher Sahloul, president of the Syrian American Medical Society. "If you're a policymaker or if you are a congressman or if you are an average citizen and you are seeing these pictures, is there any responsibility on you?"

Dr. Sahloul's been to Syria 14 times and Aleppo five times. Every time, he says it's gotten worse. There are ways to help Syrians without going to Aleppo, of course. One way is to donate.

These are some of the organizations doing work to help Syrians: 

Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)

Karam Foundation

Syrian American Medical Society 

SEE MORE: 5-Year-Old Boy Is Symbol Of Devastation In Aleppo

"You can raise your voice as a citizen of the most powerful country in the world and tell your congressman and your senator we need to do something about Syria," Sahloul said.

Contacting your representative is one way to make sure your voice is heard — sites like Democracy.io make it easy.

"We need to stop the killing that has been happening for five years," Sahloul added. "We need to stop the barrel bombing. We need to stop the chemical weapon attacks. And what's happening in Syria is a stain on our humanity, on our responsibility as the leadership of the free world."