New York, New York.

In September 2022, we visited New York City. On a Sunday, we walked along Fifth Avenue. You know, from the Bing Crosby song, “Easter Parade.”

On the avenue, Fifth Avenue
The photographers will snap us
And you’ll find that you’re
In the rotogravure

(Excuse my digression, but I had to look it up. A rotogravure is a type of rotary photographic press used in the newspaper industry at the time of the song.)

We saw Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and had a notion that we might visit the interior of the church, but as we approached, we saw that might not be so easy. Our first thought was that mass had just concluded.

Then looking left of the main entrance, I saw the imposing figure of a child standing well above everyone. We decided to stay across the street and I used my telephoto lens for these images.

I asked another bystander near us if she knew what was going on. In typical New York fashion, her comment was terse but not unfriendly. She said, “That’s Little Amal. You can look it up on the web.”

My search engine told me of the 12-foot (3.6 m) puppet representing a 10-year-old Syrian refugee. From the Walk with Amal website here, “Since July 2021, Amal has traveled to 15 countries and been welcomed by more than a million people on the street, including hundreds of artists and civil society and faith leaders, as well as by tens of millions online. Most recently she traveled through the United States, where she was welcomed in more than 40 cities and tens of thousands of people. Her journeys are festivals of art and hope that draw attention to the huge numbers of children fleeing war, violence, and persecution, each with their own story.”

On that September morning, she was welcomed by Timothy Cardinal Dolan. Amal spent time in the cathedral for prayer and reflection and also met with a recently arrived refugee family assisted by Catholic Charities New York.

Little Amal was constructed by the Handspring Puppet Company in Cape Town, South Africa. She is made of cane, carbon fiber, and other lightweight materials, and is operated by four puppeteers. One puppeteer controls each arm, one puppeteer supports her back, and one puppeteer stands inside her legs and controls her body movements. The puppeteer inside her legs also controls her facial expressions. This photo captures the puppeteer inside.

We were told by another bystander that this day was Little Amal’s last day in New York and that she would also be visiting Central Park later that day. It turned out, however, that we were misinformed. We walked to Central Park later and saw nothing special, but the park is a big place. We surmised that our timing wasn’t right or that we were in the wrong part of the park. Now that I am writing this, my web research notes that she visited Central Park on September 24, 2022.

Given recent events in other parts of the world, writing this post in the relative isolation of North Dakota about a refugee girl in New York is a powerful reminder to me of the shared humanity of all people, regardless of their religion, nationality, or background. Amal’s journey is a symbol of hope and resilience, and her visit to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral was a celebration of the diversity and compassion of New York City.

John Steiner