5. The volunteers who created happiness for children underneath a warzone
For the past nine years millions of children have paid the ultimate price of a war created by adults. They have often been without regular humanitarian aid, basic supplies and a sense of safety.
Yaseen, an architecture student in Damascus was frustrated with the idea of a generation of Syrians growing up without play. So he, and a group of young volunteers, came up with an innovative solution: to create a place just for children to be children.
The creation of the playground wasn’t easy. It took two years for Yaseen and his friends to build the Land of Childhood from two bare basements.
“We dug a tunnel to create a safe connection between the two basements and decorated it with coloured lights and some toys,” says Yaseen. “We wanted to transform the tunnel from being a place associated with attacks, fear and horror to a fun place that engages children as they pass through it.”