Welcome to SOS Children

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Welcome to SOS Childrens Villages
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Syria

• SOS Children have worked in Syria since 1981
• There are 2 SOS Childrens Villages
• Qodsaya
• Near Damascus
• Cares for children in family houses
• Children go to school and have lots of
  opportunities
• Has an SOS Youth Home for those nearing
  independence.
• Aleppo
• Opened in 1998
• Has 12 family houses
• Has an SOS Nursery which looks after children
  from the local community too
• Has links to an SOS Youth Home run specifically
  for girls
• Has its own Social Centre which runs community
  outreach programmes such as vocational training.

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This is Amjad
Amjad is a refugee.
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Amjad

• Amjad had to flee his home after shells fell in
  front of his house.

I no longer want to go back home, I am afraid of
going back there. I used to hide in the kitchen
between the oven and the fridge, on the floor. I
closed by ears with my fingers so that I didnt
hear the shelling and shooting. I will never go
back to our old house, we were so scared there.
Amjad, aged 12
5
What is a refugee?

• 2 million Syrians are currently classed as
  refugees and half of these are children. But what
  is a refugee?
• A person who has been forced to leave their
  country in order to escape war, persecution, or
  natural disaster. Many of them cannot return home
  or are afraid to do so.

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Syrian refugees

• 2 million refugees.
• 720,000 in Lebanon, 520,000 in Jordan, 464,000 in
  Turkey (August 2013)
• 1 million child refugees, 740,000 under the age
  of 11.
• The majority live in refugee camps.

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Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan
Source AP
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Life as a refugee

• Refugee camps often become home - many refugees
  end up living in refugee camps for years
• Refugees need, and have a right to, all the
  things we do shelter, food, clean water,
  medical care and education.
• But, it is difficult to provide these things in a
  refugee camp
• - Lack of infrastructure
• - Poor transport and communications
• - Limited money
• - Limited space
• - Language barriers
• Schools are very basic

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Life as a refugeeSeparation

• Many refugee children end up alone
• Chaos of escape means children easily lose their
  parents and families.
• In Syria, many children have lost parents in the
  conflict.
• These children have to grow up fast missing out
  on their childhood.

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Life as a refugeeFood health

• Many refugees go hungry or eat a restricted diet
• Diseases spread easily
• Limited medical facilities and not many trained
  doctors and nurses

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Life as a refugeeEducation

• Children who flee in fear often have special
  problems
• School helps them overcome this - it symbolises
  normality
• They can learn about their own culture and
  country and spend time with other children
• Education becomes a symbol of hope
• Classrooms are very basic a tent or small
  building
• Lessons are often held outside
• There are often no desks and children sit on the
  floor
• There are very few textbooks and stationary

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Internally displaced people
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone
who has been forced to flee from his or her home
for the same reason as a refugee, but has not
left his or her own country. Unlike refugees,
IDPs are not protected by international law or
eligible to receive many types of aid.
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SOS Children supporting IDPs

• Families are living in tiny rooms all over Syria,
  displaced from their homes.
• They have left everything behind everyday
  survival is a struggle.
• Finding milk to feed babies and young children is
  especially difficult as food prices are rising
  and transport links are destroyed.
• SOS Children is supporting displaced families,
  providing them with things like milk.
• Just 7.50 stands between families and buying
  enough milk to feed their infants.

http//www.youtube.com/watch?vY1uNQixff94