This is a story about the struggles of a young child named Mustafa Malek Mohammed. Mustafa is a 10-year-old Syrian boy who has experienced things no adult can handle. About three years ago, Mustafa was studying in a school in Syria, living a normal life like any other child his age, until one day his reality became a nightmare.
Mustafa and his family never expected the twist they were heading into. Mustafa starts to explain, “our village was attacked by terrorist groups; when we were still back in Syria, I was there when they killed many of my relatives”. Mustafa goes on talking about very bothering details scratched into his memory, details we decided against publishing due to its brutal nature. Mustafa goes on, “these events caused misery for all of us, and since then I can’t even sleep. I keep on seeing nightmares of them attacking us again. Ever since it happened, my mother won’t let me out of her sight”, he added.
Hearing the story of this innocent, traumatized young boy, LOST’s field team referred him to Mrs. Rola Fleeti, the education specialist who counseled him to get rid of the negative thoughts in his head, and try to put his focus on more positive thoughts rather than to continue living a life full of fear. Before meeting with Mrs. Fleeti, Mustafa was too afraid to even speak of the events he had gone through, as he had been so traumatized by them. Mustafa was constantly afraid, to the extent where he would begin to cry every time someone would get near him, even if it was another classmate.
After some group activities and therapy with Mrs. Fleeti and the education team, Mustafa came in one day and told Mrs. Fleeti that he no longer sees the horrible nightmares, and how happy he was with the new friends he made, whom he told his mother about. He also mentioned that he is now becoming active in the class, and he especially likes his math teacher who cares for him as well and lets him help around the class by assigning him tasks. Aside from being able to take back his innocence and live a normal life, Mustafa is now excited to finish the “Basic Literacy and Numeracy” program, funded by UNICEF, in coordination with Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST), and to one day enroll in public school to further continue his education.
