On the occasion of Mother’s Day, and as a token of human responsibility and empathy towards the Syrian refugees, the Lebanese youth engaged in UNICEF/LOST social cohesion program celebrated Mother’s Day at an ITS in Jdeidi of northern Bekaa, bringing together Syrian youth, their parents and siblings to the event.
Youth from the hosting community along with their Syrian counterparts prepared all the needed logistics of the event. They decorated the tent with drawings and balloons and prepared greeting cards and hand-made flowers to be distributed over Syrian mothers. They also raised money in order to buy a cake and some refreshments, and played some music to add some joy in the gloomy atmosphere of the settlement. “I am thrilled by the level of interaction among these two greatly-diverse communities”, Mehdi Yehya, a field officer at LOST asserts. Sawta Hweije, a Life Skills trainer in the project, delivered a passionate speech in the occasion and fell into tears after sensing sincere emotions of gratitude on part of Syrian mothers.
Such an activity explains the approaches utilized by LOST to mitigate tensions between the hosting community and the Syrian refugees in the region, where Lebanese youth on a weekly basis visit Syrian evacuees and conduct some recreational, educational, and cultural activities.
