When we think of Davos from Game of Thrones we think of the gentle, amazing man who let Shireen (RIP) teach him how to read and encouraged Melisandre to bring back Jon Snow our Lord Commander (thanks a mil). In real life, the actor is actually also an incredible person and has been doing some inspiring things lately that we all should know about.
We know it's easy to turn a blind eye or turn off the TV when we see anything about refugees or the war in Syria, but Liam Cunningham believes it's time we in privileged countries open our eyes, and he's damn right.
Liam teamed up with humanitarian organisation World Vision in September to visit Syrian refugees in Jordan. Over five days he visited the Azraq and Za’atari camps where he met with families and spent time with Syrian children at kindergartens, schools and football pitches.
The Irish actor said what he thought about Syria’s near-5 million refugees had been “completely blown out of the water” after seeing it for himself.
“I have an enormous anger about what’s happening in Syria, the injustice of it, the disgusting behaviour of the various parties involved,” he said.
“For all the attempts to quash humanity – and don’t forget, war is about cruelty – for all the attempts to be cruel and to diminish the human spirit, I have seen it flourish here.”
“The hunger for education in this place is absolutely remarkable. They realise that without education …there is no life. They have, from a very early age, an extraordinary hunger to get back to Syria and rebuild the place, because it is their home.”
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Syria has been absolutely destroyed in the past five years, with more than 11 million people affected. Of those, 6.1 million people are displaced in Syria, 4.8 million (including 2 million children) have fled into neighbouring countries and tragically at least 270,000 people have been killed.
Charities like World Vision have worked to help those affected in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq since the conflict began in 2011.
Liam also recently went on Claire Byrne live to talk about the crisis facing our world and implored countries like Ireland to open their hearts and minds to refugees who need their help.
It's a tough subject but it's inspiring to see celebrities like Liam Cunningham bring much-needed publicity to these atrocities.
If you'd like to help World Vision's efforts in conflict zones, you can donate here.
