Omar was born in Daraa, Syria, in 2005. He lived there with his parents and older brother and sister. His earliest memories are of a peaceful life in the city. But life in Daraa changed forever in 2011.
That year, Syrians began holding protests. Many Syrians suffered under the rule of the nation’s leader, Bashar al-Assad. They were protesting for more freedoms. On March 18, Syrian police shot at protesters in Daraa. Several people were killed.
The protests soon grew larger and spread to other cities. Assad’s forces continued to use violence against the protesters. Thousands of soldiers quit the Syrian army. They joined up with groups of protesters. Together, these rebels began fighting Assad’s army for control of Syria.
Many Syrians, including the Hussins, were caught in the middle. Omar was nearly shot while playing in a schoolyard.
“There was a battle going on in the street,” he remembers. “Bullets came and killed a boy from my school.”
The Hussins stayed in Daraa for more than two years after the fighting began. But then the house next to theirs was bombed. Omar’s father knew it was time to leave. In May 2013, the Hussins left for Jordan, Syria’s neighbor to the south.