The 7-year-old Syrian girl whose tweets gave a harrowing look at the crisis in Aleppo over the last few months took questions with her mother on Facebook, one week after the family was evacuated from the war-wracked city.
In the session, Bana al-Abed and her mother, Fatemah, said it was their hope to return to their city after the war was over and help other Syrians affected by the violence.
“I will be back to help my people,” Fatemah said in one response.
Syrian girl Bana al-Abed hugs her mother Fatemah during an interview in Ankara, Turkey
The pair took questions exactly one week after their family had been bused out of eastern Aleppo and taken to Ankara, Turkey. They said they were all safe following their evacuation and that Bana was hoping to go back to school.
When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, Bana told one Facebook user she wanted to be a “teacher, author and peacemaker.”
“I want to help people around the world,” she said in another response.
Fatemah said the war’s effect on Syria’s children was “very huge” and affected children in “every way.”
One person asked Bana how she found peace before falling asleep when she faced death day and night.
“I read & just got used to it but was afraid,” she replied.
Last Monday NBC News spoke with 26-year-old Fatemah after their escape.
Aleppo Girl: I’m Happy But I’m Afraid
“I really have two feelings … between sadness and happiness,” she said in a Skype interview. “I feel that my children in safer place, but we don’t know how long we will be safe, and I don’t know where we go.”
She added that she felt “so sad because I left my soul there, I left Aleppo. Aleppo is my home, Aleppo is everything for me … I love it and I teach my children to love it, and we stayed there until the last breath.”
For much of Syria’s five-year civil war, Aleppo was caught between rebel and pro-government forces. The city returned to government control after the last remaining opposition fighters and civilians were evacuated.
