The life they deserve
While UNICEF and our partners work on finding the parents and family members of children in the shelter, our specialist staff make sure they can start to recover from the profound stress of war. In the strangest of places, we help them feel a little normal again.
“We try to make their life as comfortable as possible,” says a staff member at the orphanage. “On weekends, we all go out to parks to play and have fun like one big family!”
During the week, the children get a chance to go back to school and start shaping their futures. It was the first time Ibrahim and Doha, Mohammad’s younger siblings, had been inside a classroom in their lives. After school, the shelter hosts extra classes to help the children catch up on lost time.
For children in the shelter, it’s a return to the stability and warmth of a classroom. A place to express themselves with the pencils, books and learning supplies they’ve lost. A chance to be supported by trained teachers who believe in them so they can develop their talents and look forward with confidence.
UNICEF doesn’t run orphanages - we do everything we can to keep children safe in their communities. Every day, while the children learn, play and recover at school, our staff are urgently searching for their parents and extended family.
Thankfully, the tireless work of UNICEF staff pays off.
After four months of searching, there was great news for Mohammad and his siblings: UNICEF found their uncle. It’s no small feat to trace someone in the middle of biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II, but it’s worth it: the children are reunited with their family.
The house with the green door gave the six children safety and hope; now, at home with their family, they can finally rebuild.