On April 25th, SHSID juniors welcomed three unusual visitors. The wife and children of the Syrian ambassador to China visited SHSID campus to encourage students to contribute to charity activities.

The ambassador's whole family believes that, through committing to charity work and helping those in need, students can understand the pain of those less fortunate, and cherish their own privileged and peaceful lives. Later, the ambassador's children told the audience about the destruction of their homeland during the war and the plight of Syrian children as young refugees. Before 2011, Syria was still a peaceful nation with clear cerulean sky and white clouds, quiet and peaceful pedestrians, and majestic ancient buildings. However, the post-war situation was horrifying— half of the ruined walls had collapsed, roofs had collapsed inwards, and the barren land was dusty and depressing. The picture of a young mother looking at the baby nestled in her arms, with her dull and frightened eyes, revealed their hopelessness for the future. What can be done to change this situation? The speakers put out this question and pointed out that the children in the war are still unfair victims of political conflicts.

As high-school students, the realistic thing that the presenting students currently can do is to usecharitychannels to provide these children with helps like prosthetic limbs and educational support. This talk made it clearer to the students that they are global citizens studying in an international setting, and they should pay more attention to the plight of different people around the world, know the life of others, and extend a helping hand whenever possible. With a grand and inclusive world view, the students should also not take their peaceful life for granted and get ready to jointly work towards a future without wars and suffering.

After the sharing session, the ambassador's family members also toured around the campus and visited the school history exhibition hall.

(Written by Cathy Wang Pictures by Hao Sun and Qin Liu Edited and Supervised by Sijia He)