Four years ago this week a group of young teenagers with a can of paint sprayed messages on a wall in Daraa city. They couldn’t have known it but, over the next nine days, their graffiti started the Syrian civil war, which reaches its fourth anniversary on 15 March. The sprayed messages said ‘the people want to topple the regime’- echoed in other countries during the Arab Spring. The Syrian government was quick to act. It arrested the 15 boys, aged 10 to 15, interrogated and tortured them. Thousands turned out on the streets and the boys were released. The protests continued and spread to cities across Syria before turning violent and developing into full-scale civil war. The first protestors to die were killed on 18 March, - by security forces trying to stop a rally.  At least 220,000 have lost their lives according to the most recent UN figures, including over 10,000 children.