Lebanon: Childrens' Creativity Project

Ayman Zaher and six other YIP participants went to Lebanon for their four-week internship abroad. Together, they worked on Ayman's project: The Children Of Al Jaleel Center. The center is located within his community: the Palestinian refugee camp in Baalbeck, some 80 km from Beirut.

Meaningful activities

In his internship report, Ayman writes: "We did not just want to go there and observe the children, but wanted to organize a meaningful activity. We decided to create our own project to support the children at the center." The group prepared well, and fundraised 60 kg of material and SEK 25000 in cash.

Arts and Community Campaigns

Once in Lebanon, the group worked with arts and community campaigns. Amongst other things, they painted, did hand craft and created photo diaries with the children. "The children were given a camera and asked to take photos from their daily life, and to focus on the things that are around them every day. Later, we developed the pictures and put them in a book together with the children, for them to keep," Ayman writes.

The community campaigns included tree planting, discussions with local youth, story telling, excursions and sports.

You can see photos and read stories from the group at their web site.

"A very successful experience"

At the end of his report, Ayman reflects on their experiences: "We felt very welcomed and we really admired the great hospitality we received in Baalbeck and throughout neighboring camps. Our group was always invited to houses and we were occupied during most of our free time with social visits."

"We also had a lot of opportunities to discover the Palestinian and Lebanese culture in the camps and the touristy places in Lebanon. Lebanon is a beautiful country, but it also has real and difficult problems. We were able to learn about the real conditions of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, who live without any civil or human rights and were touched by the intensity of the poverty, exploitation, discrimination and the poor conditions that refugees are forced to live in. (…) It was a very successful experience, which filled all of us with a lot of happiness, love, and a profound sense of the community's hospitality."