SURVIVING CHILDHOOD IN EXILE: STORIES OF SYRIAN KIDS IN LEBANON

Generation Standstill

The war in Syria uprooted millions of lives. Many Syrians fled to neighbouring Lebanon, where 1 our of 4 people is now a refugee. But escaping the war zone was only the beginning.

Most Syrian refugee families live in deep poverty. In Lebanon, 4 out of 5 Syrian children do not attend school because they must work to support their households. For them, exile is not only a temporary interruption; it threatens to define an entire generation.

Abu Walid and his family of 12, including his pregnant wife, had to leave their farm in Syria and now live and work for pennies in a marble factory. Faisal and Feda, who also had a farm in Syria, live in an illegal tent settlement and work at an auto repair shop. They dream of becoming doctors and public officials, but the realities of exile make those dreams increasingly remote.