A 6-year-old Syrian girl named Angela, after the former German chancellor, Angela Merkel, started her first day of school today, Friday, in the western German city of Cologne.
Shortly before classes began, the girl received a card bearing the former chancellor’s photo and signature, and the words “For Angela”.
The girl’s father, Ezzat, said they named their daughter Angela to express their gratitude for Merkel’s refugee policy at the height of the mass exodus from war-torn Syria.
The girl’s parents fled to Germany in 2015 as part of that wave of refugees.
“She (Merkel) helped a lot of people, she helped us,” Ezzat said.
Friends who accompanied the Syrian family as volunteers for several years contacted Merkel’s office, which confirmed the ticket had been sent.
Baby Angela already knows how to write her first name, and hopes to learn the rest of the alphabet at her new school.
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