clip from article:MEADVILLE — Boushra Daghestani of Meadville hopes both international aid and international pressure will put an end to violence in her native Syria.

The United Nations estimates 8,000 people or more have died in violence in Syria in the past 12 months with fresh fighting Monday in the capital of Damascus. Daghestani estimates that the total number of deaths may be 12,000 or more based on her contacts within Syria through social media sites like Facebook.

“There are innocent people getting killed in Syria, but no action is being taken,” said Daghestani. “We need to expose what’s going on to Meadville.”

Daghestani left Syria to come to the U.S. in 1981 to pursue better opportunities for her family. She remains in Meadville because her children are attached to the schools in the region and she remains in contact with friends in Syria through Facebook.

“Social media has played a big role,” she said of reports of events. “I’ve shared a lot of stories and videos from the U.S. to friends. I’m their CNN.”

Syria has restrictions on journalists within that country, making it difficult for the Syrian people to get accurate accounts of what’s happening. [read more at link]