Amal

“What if, as a child, you had to cross entire countries and oceans all by yourself”?

This is one of the things “Amal and the most important journey of her life”, this surprising book-app by Editora Caixote and Webcore Games, makes readers wonder about. For most children, it’s an unthinkable possibility. For hundreds of thousands of refugee children, it’s a harsh reality. The book was published with institutional support from UNCHR, the UN agency for refugees.

Written by Carolina Montenegro, foreign correspondent specialized in migration and refugees (she works for Doctors without Borders and the UN), “Amal” is a tribute to refugee children. But not only that: it is a book-app that is set out to make a difference. It is distributed for free because it aims to reach as many readers as possible, to inform and to raise awareness. It also directly contributes to humanitarian projects related to refugees (to learn about it, go to www.editoracaixote.com/amal).

Get to know this new and urgent story and surprise yourself with the delicate and powerful animations by Renato Moriconi and the engaging soundtracks by Arthur de Faria. You may read the book yourself or listen to the voice of a Syrian singer who lives as a refugee in Brazil. His accent, as well as the accents of the other artists who narrated the book in different languages, add beauty and strength to the narrative.

In the app, you’ll still find suggestions of ways to help the refugee cause, and also to help us continue the “Amal” project.

Synopsis:

"Amal, you need to leave. Now!"
This is how Amal’s grandfather informed the girl that she would have to leave their country in order to escape war. Alone. She was only 12 years old.
“Amal” is a literary narrative full of adventures, dangers and courage. The girl travels from Syria to Turkey and then Greece and Italy. She travels alone, hitchhiking, on foot and even by makeshift boat. Along the way, she meets children in the same situation, and from other countries and contexts. The book not only reveals the drama in their circumstances, but also their courage and determination. It is, in other words, a tribute to millions of refugee children, and especially to those hundreds of thousands who travel alone around the world to survive.

About the UNHCR support

“UNHCR supports and believes in “Amal” as an important stimulus for education as it sensitizes teachers and students to respect the rights of refugees."