Mohammad’s Story

Mohammad is a child like all others, or he was like all others. At 8 months old, he had a loving home and a caring family. This was until a bomb fell on his house, killing his parents and his four siblings, and leaving him with wounds that a young child can barely endure.

Mohammad’s relatives took care of him, but his grandma, who had previously fled to Jordan, felt that she needed to raise her grandson. This way, maybe she can regain a sense of tenderness after the loss that she had experienced. Mohammad was transferred across the border, while his wounds were weighing down on his frail body. It took three days, after which his grandma welcomed him with tears in her eyes. She held him close, hoping he can feel her love and care, and that she can be a mother to him after he had lost his own. Mohammad will grow up, and his wounds will heal; but what will help him overcome the bitterness of losing his entire family?

-Abir N.

Hind’s Toys

When we decided to leave Syria and come to Jordan, I started going around the house packing our things. While doing that, I noticed my daughter Hind, who is 8 years old, holding a small bag in her hand. “What’s in the bag?” I asked her. She said to me, “These are my toys!” I asked her to leave those behind as we have a long way to go and we need to walk long distances; we can’t have a lot of luggage. Hind cried and cried, trying to convince me to take her toys, but eventually she left them at the house.

When we left, my husband refused to come with us and decided to stay behind. Whenever Hind would call him she would ask about her toys. One time he said to her, “How about I give your toys to the children in our neighborhood?” She refused telling her father that we’ll be back home soon.

A few days later, my children and I were watching the news and saw a lot of horrific images of what’s happening in Syria. Hind called her father right away and told him, “I saw all the destroyed houses, and children’s toys strewn around the rubble. They built a new refugee camp here in Jordan, so this means that we won’t be coming back soon. You can give my toys away now.”

-Hanadi

My Daughter, Adan

I stood for a moment in front of my daughter, “Jannet Adan”, watching her innocent soft face while she was sleeping soundly, holding her doll in her arms.

The black circles under her eyes have finally started to disappear; her sense of security was slowly returning to her. She overcame her fear and constant attachment to me, she stopped closing her little eyes and ears to block the sounds of guns, bombs, and planes.

My little girl is back to normal life; she goes to school every morning without crying, she studies, laughs, plays, and speaks. Adan was able to overcome her troubles with the love and care that she received, I would like to thank all of those who gave us this support in Jordan.

-Maysa’ Q.

وطن الخير

ذات مرةٍ لفت نظري أطفالٌ من بلدي على شاشة التلفاز وهم تحت الحصار الخانق، وعندما سألهم المذيع ماذا يشتهون وما هي متطلباتهم، فرد البعض بأنه يشتهي الفواكه والخضار، والبعض قال أريد الخبز، وقالت طفلة: “أريد دجاجة”…

 آهٍ على وطن الخير، وعلى أيام جميلة مضت، كم كانت الولائم واللقاءات بين الأقارب والجيران تعج بما لذ وطاب من أطعمة وأشربة وحلويات، أما الآن فوطن الخير يعجز حتى عن إيصال رغيف الخبز لطفلٍ جائع، لكن ليس ذلك لأنه لم يعد في وطني خير، بل لأن هناك قلوباً متحجرةً برداء إنسانٍ تمنع الطعام عن هذه البراعم التي لم تزهر بعد.

 كم تمنيت أن أكسر الشاشة وأخرج منها كل هؤلاء الأطفال، وأن أقدم لهم كل ما يشتهونه.

 أعجز العالم عن إيصال رغيف؟ أم أن منظر أطفالك يا وطني أصبح عادياً ومألوفاً وكأنه حكايةٌ أو مسلسلٌ تعدت حلقاته المئات من القصص المؤلمة والمفجعة، وأصبح مشاهدوه مجردين من الإنسانية؟

 – أميرة

The Country of Good

The other day when I was watching T.V., I saw the children of my country under the stifling siege. The reporter proceeded to ask them about what they want the most right now. Some replied that they are craving fruits and vegetables, some said they want bread, and one little girl said, “I want a chicken”.

Oh what happened to the country of good, and to happy days that have passed? The feasts and meetings between relatives and neighbors used to be filled with the tastiest food, drink, and desserts. Now, however, the country of good is unable to give a loaf of bread to a hungry child. It’s not because there is no more good in my country, but because there are stone cold hearts disguised as humans, stopping food from reaching those young children who are like sprouts that haven’t bloomed yet.

How I wished that I can break the T.V. screen and invite all of those children out. I would give them all the food that they want so they don’t have to suffer anymore.

Is the world incapable of getting bread to those children? Or is this image of children in my country so mundane now, like a story or a television series with over a hundred episodes filled with painful stories, that the audience has become heartless?

-Amira

Children in Za’atari and Oxfam Paint for Peace

Oxfam-GB held an activity in Za’atri Camp on Tuesday Jan. 14^th where it mobilized a number of children of different ages to draw on canvas and on tiles to express their thoughts and ideas in drawing and in color.

The younger children drew on tiles using acrylic paint while the older children colored in paintings on canvas that were drawn by the Oxfam-GB team. The drawings focused on the concept of peace and sending out the message of peace through art. This activity comes a week before the scheduled Geneva II talks that hold some hope for peace in Syria.

أطفال الزعتري وأوكسفام يرسمون معاً من أجل السلام

قامت منظمة “أوكسفام” اليوم الثلاثاء الرابع عشر من كانون الثاني بحشد عددٍ كبيرٍ من الأطفال القاطنين في مخيم الزعتري من مختلف الأعمار ومن كلا الجنسين للرسم على القماش والسيراميك والتعبير عن ما يجول في خاطرهم وإيصاله باستخدام الرسم والألوان.

 وقام الأطفال الأصغر سناً بالرسم على قطعٍ مختلفة الأحجام من السيراميك وباستخدام ألوان الأكريليك، بينما قام الأطفال ذوو الأعمار الأكبر باستخدام نفس نوعية الألوان لتلوين لوحةٍ كبيرةٍ على القماش قام برسمها فريق منظمة أوكسفام للتركيز على مفهوم السلام والمساهمة في إيصال رسالةٍ عن طريق الألوان الزاهية والرسومات البسيطة للمناداة بأهمية نشر السلام.

أنا أم

السلام عليكم أيها العالم…

أنا أمٌ من سوريا، سوريا هي بلدٌ يعتبر جزءاً من هذا العالم…

أنا أم، وحكايتي هي حكاية مئات الأمهات في بلدي؛

أنا أمٌ استيقظت ذات يومٍ على صوت انفجارٍ يهز بيتها، وعلى شظايا وحجارٍ وغبار وركامٍ يلف ما حولها…

أنا أم؛ نفضت عن قديمها الركام وأسرعت لتتفقد بيتها، فوجدت أطفالها الأربعة تحت الركام نائمين، حاولت إيقاظهم فلم يستيقظوا… ولكن البسمة كانت مرسومةً على شفاههم، والنور كان يشع من وجوههم…

أنا أم: اعتقدت حينها بأن أطفالها يمازحونها ويلعبون، فبدأت تداعبهم وتمسح عيونهم، لكنهم ما زالوا يبتسمون…

حتى جاء الناس وملؤوا المكان، وإذا بهم يصرخون؛

أنا أم، قالت للناس حينئذ: ما بالكم؟ الأطفال نائمون!

فقال الناس: لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله، إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون…

أنا أم، بدأت تقبل وتشم وتحضن أبناءها، تقول يا أبنائي لا تخافوا، هؤلاء مجانين…

يا أبنائي، أفيقوا، أفيقوا، أفيقوا… وما زالوا يبتسمون…

أنا أمٌ أيقظ صدى صوتها الملايين، لكنه لم يوقظ أطفالها النائمين…

فودعت الأم أربعة طيورٍ إلى الجنة ذاهبين، متسائلةٍ عن ذنب أطفالها؛ أذنبهم بأنهم كانوا يحلمون؟…

 – رشا

I am a Mother

I salute you, World…

I am a mother from Syria, Syria is a country considered to be part of this World…

I am a mother, and my story is the story of hundreds of mothers in my country;

I am a mother who woke up one day to the sound of an explosion that shook her house, and to debris, shrapnel, and destruction all around her…

I am a mother; who shook off the debris off her feet and hurried to check on her house, so she found her four children sleeping under the rubble. I tried to wake them up, but they wouldn’t budge…they had smiles on their faces, and light shining from their faces…

I am a mother; who thought then that her children were playing a prank, so she started wiping their eyes, but they were still smiling…

Then people came and filled the place, they all started screaming;

I am a mother; who said to the people there: “What is the matter? The children are sleeping!”

The people said: “May you find strength in God, for they have returned to him…”

I am a mother, who started to kiss, smell, and hold her children, telling them: “Don’t be scared, these people are insane…”

“My children; wake up, wake up, wake up”…and they were still smiling…

I am a mother, whose voice woke up millions, but didn’t wake up her sleeping children…

So the mother said goodbye to four birds ascending to heaven, wondering why this could happen. Is their sin that they were dreaming?

-Rasha

Informal Settlements in Jawa Filled with Children’s Voices on Hygiene

The Voice team accompanied Oxfam’s Host Community team last Thursday to an activity organized for Syrian refugee children residing with their families in informal settlements in Jawa; near Queen Alia International Airport in Amman. The goal of the activity was to raise the children’s awareness about the importance of washing their hands and attending to their personal hygiene. The children joined the activities enthusiastically and recited a song about hand washing that Oxfam had created.

Oxfam arranged for the activity with the children’s parents a day before the event by communicating with the leaders of each group of children as focal points between them and Oxfam. On the day of the event, the children were divided into 4 groups, each containing 20 boys and girls. The groups then proceeded to learn the song about hand washing and sing it. After that, the children put on plays that they had worked on themselves to raise awareness about the dangers of germs and the importance of hand washing to health and hygiene. Then all the children washed their hands according to the way they were taught, and Oxfam’s team stressed to them the importance of sharing all this information with other children in their community. At the end of the day, goody bags were distributed to all the children, containing a copy book, a pencil, and coloring pens. In addition to that, the bags contained a bar of soap each to encourage the children to be responsible about their personal hygiene without having to depend on their parents.

The children listening to Oxfam staff describing the day’s activities

The children singing the hand washing song

The four groups during the activities

A member of Oxfam staff helping one of the children