Best friends Myriam (10) and Sandra (9), who were driven from their homes in Iraq by so-called Islamic State (IS) last year and ended up in different countries, were brought together on a live SAT-7 KIDS show. The youngsters were reunited over a video phone call during an episode of Let’s Sing Together marking eastern Easter on 12 April.
They had been separated when Myriam’s family fled to Kurdistan and Sandra’s to Lebanon when Islamic State took over their home town of Qaraqosh last summer. Neither knew where the other was.
SAT-7 first heard their story from Myriam, who was interviewed by popular presenter Essam Nagy (known to children as “Mr Know”) just before Christmas when he visited the camp in Ankawa, Erbil where she is living. Myriam expressed her great desire to see Sandra again and Essam said he hoped SAT-7 would be with the girls on the day they met again.
SAT-7 then traced Sandra and invited her to come to our Lebanon studio to take part in Let’s Sing Together and talk to Myriam, who was watching the live programme in Kurdistan.
When Essam asked Sandra what she wanted to say to Myriam, Sandra replied: “I want to tell her I miss her so much and I want to see her so I can hug her. We want to go back to Iraq and see her but there is no safety.”
Myriam responded with a prayer for Sandra: “Jesus Christ I pray for Sandra my friend. Please protect her and put in her path people who love her and appreciate her. I thank You Jesus that we are seeing one another again even if not face to face. Amen.”
Essam said the encounter brought to his mind Psalm 8:2, “Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies.” He said: “It was a very remarkable moment to watch this amount of genuine, true love speaking out of the hearts of kids to the whole world through SAT-7 KIDS.”
Essam’s first interview with Myriam, in which she expressed forgiveness for the Islamic State militants who drove her from her home, has been watched by millions around the world on social media.