Little Amal puppet of Syrian girl to visit Akron to celebrate rich stories of refugees

When Little Amal comes to Akron Sept. 23, the community will help her find her way.

Little Amal is a 12-foot puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl who is on a 6,000-mile trek across the United States through Nov. 7. In each of the 35 U.S. cities that she's visiting between Boston and San Diego, Little Amal is looking for a place to stay and seeking community, just like many refugees do.

Amal Walks Across America, produced by The Walk Productions with Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa, chose Akron as one of the cities Little Amal will visit due to its multicultural North Hill neighborhood. The community is home to former refugees and immigrants including Nepali-Bhutanese, Afghan, Congolese, Karen and Burmese peoples.

"They picked Akron because of the strong ties to the refugee communities," said Katie Beck, co-artistic director of Gum-Dip Theatre, which is one of the Akron organizations collaborating for Amal's visit.

Also welcoming Little Amal Sept. 23 are the city of Akron, the North Hill branch of Akron-Summit County Public Library, the North Hill Community Development Corporation and the National Center for Choreography-Akron.

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Little Amal, who was created as a performance art project to celebrate human migration and cultural diversity, has traveled across 13 countries and met more than a million people since 2021. She has visited Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Poland, the Netherlands and Canada.

The puppet is an international symbol of human rights, especially for refugees.

Now, Little Amal's making a two-month trek to more than 100 events across the United States in what's described as one of the larges public art festivals in the country's history. Audiences throughout her U.S. trek have been witnessing Amal making new friends, learning about different cultures and missing her friends and family back home as she navigates her first weeks as a refugee child in this country.

Akron is the 12th of 37 U.S. cities she's visiting, which include stops in Cincinnati and Columbus Sept. 22.

Above all, the puppet stands for unity and hope. Her walk in each city is meant to bring communities together, focus on the urgent needs of refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers and highlight the rich cultures and contributions of immigrants.

In Akron, the community is invited to join in Little Amal's walk starting at North Main Street and Tallmadge Avenue at 2 p.m. Sept. 23. The street will be blocked off for her and the community to walk .3 miles north to People's Park, where the North Hill Community Development Corporation will host the third annual International Day of Peace celebration from 3 to 5 p.m. at 765 N. Main St.

Gum-Dip Theatre is leading the artistic end of Little Amal's visit, including organizing dancers, music and the narrative concept for the puppet's walk in Akron.

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Little Amal's walk in Akron will symbolize the burdens that refugees face navigating a new place while trying to find a sense of safety and belonging. Bricks, which symbolize both those burdens and the labor of Italian immigrants who laid brick roads and building foundations in North Hill more than a century ago, serve as inspiration now for Little Amal's story.

Ten dancers choreographed by Dominic Moore-Dunson and Elyse Morckel will introduce the bricks through dance. A Nepali band also will play along the walk children also will fly paper blimps attached to sticks, symbolizing Akron's innovation, alongside the puppet.

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As community members line the street to see Little Amal, they'll be invited to take a brick and write a burden they're carrying on one side and a word or phrase of hope on the other side. They will then place their brick on a tarp that Little Amal will be dragging on her walk.

As the load gets heavier, community members will help Amal move the pile.

At the end of the walk at People’s Park, participants will form a human chain to remove the bricks from Little Amal's tarp. They will then lay them into pathway that leads into the park, laying the burden side of the bricks down and the hope side up.

Amal will help move the bricks and watch the community build the walkway, which will symbolize a bridge of hope for future generations.

The brick laying will be followed by the International Day of Peace celebration that will include a party, live band and free food. North Hill residents, creatives and businesses also will be honored with Actions of Peace awards.

Why Little Amal's visit to Akron is important

"Amal's message is about not forgetting about refugee children. And there are so many former refugees in our community who still have family in refugee camps or in their past countries. And so this event really raises awareness about that," said Beck, who worked for five years in community development in North Hill, including as former executive director for the North Hill CDC.

"It's just important to keep that message alive."

With the help of Little Amal's journey, the Choose Love Amal Fund aims to raise $5 million for refugee children around the world, including education, food, shelter and medical care.

To follow Little Amal, see @walkwithamal on Instagram, and Twitter, Walk with Amal on Facebook, @littleamalthewalk on TikTok as well as video at walkwithamal.org.

Making of the Little Amal puppet

The Little Amal puppet was designed and built by Handspring Puppet Company, which created the award-winning puppets for the hit play "War Horse." Amal is inspired by a character in Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson's play "The Jungle" about a refugee camp in Calais, France.

Nine puppeteers rotate on Little Amal's journey. The puppet, made of molded cane and carbon fiber, is operated by three or four puppeteers at a time, one on each arm, one on a pair of stilts inside Amal's torso, and one supporting her back as needed. The puppeteer inside Amal's torso also controls the strings that bring her face, head and eyes to life.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Little Amal to visit Akron to celebrate rich stories of refugees