October 2016 Spotlight:
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Learning Arabic and adjusting to life in a Lebanese boarding school was undoubtedly difficult for Ayesha, but what she couldn’t help but wonder about was the isolated camp near Baalbek. The camp - enclosed by a long and tall wall - housed Palestinian refugees. While these refugees did have the ability to move in and out of the camp, she was disturbed by the drastic differences that lay just across a few feet. Palestinian refugees had harsh living conditions, poor public schools and the prevalence of child labor.
“What hurt me the most was the sight of young Palestinian children doing menial labor tasks,” she said.
After finishing ninth grade in Lebanon, Ayesha and her younger sister returned to America with memories of their years in Lebanon. After graduating high school in 2013, she, along with her sister and parents, returned to Baalbek.
“What hurt me the most was the sight of young Palestinian children doing menial labor tasks,” she said.
After finishing ninth grade in Lebanon, Ayesha and her younger sister returned to America with memories of their years in Lebanon. After graduating high school in 2013, she, along with her sister and parents, returned to Baalbek.
But this wasn’t the Lebanon she remembered. In just three short years, much had changed. Trash littered the streets, traffic was especially slow, and the empty agricultural fields she recalled seeing on her way to school, were now filled with hundreds of makeshift refugee tents. This was Ayesha’s first hand encounter with the Syrian refugee crisis, the worst since World War II.
The Lebanese government, already facing a low budget, could not cope with the huge influx of Syrian refugees. The government initially sought to provide Syrian families with small stipends, but they could quickly no longer accommodate. There were not enough jobs or housing for the hundreds of thousands of Syrians who fled to Lebanon. Ayesha heard the regular complaints of her Lebanese neighbors, and even some of her family members, who worried about losing their jobs to Syrians, who could be hired for less money. |
These are typical complaints of the refugee crisis from the macrolevel. But Ayesha, who remembered the challenges faced by Palestinian refugees, was especially moved by the persistence of the three Syrian families that were being housed at her uncle’s home with appropriated funds provided by the government as part of the humanitarian efforts to support the influx of refugees due to limited housing in the region. These three families arrived with no personal belongings, and required lots of help at first. But quickly, these families became accustomed to their new home and maintained close relations with Ayesha and her family.
One thing Ayesha particularly remembers are the children in the families who desperately wanted to go to school. While they were safe from the indiscriminate bombs and shelling in Syria, many no longer had the opportunity to receive an education, but instead had to support their families through work.
One thing Ayesha particularly remembers are the children in the families who desperately wanted to go to school. While they were safe from the indiscriminate bombs and shelling in Syria, many no longer had the opportunity to receive an education, but instead had to support their families through work.
"Imagine running out of diesel fuel - the only way to keep warm in your camp - during the winter" |
“While not all Syrian children could go to school, I remember that there were a few Syrian students who attended my eighth grade,” said Ayesha. “They told us how much they wanted to go to school and how fortunate they felt to be attending.”
In December 2015, Ayesha’s father returned to Lebanon to prepare for his mother’s funeral. The refugee crisis was now at its peak. Ayesha’s father described stories of men, women, children and the elderly freezing to death during the harsh winter in the camps, not having enough food, resources or health care, which Ayesha - though she had not experienced directly - struggled to recount. “Imagine not being able to take your sick child to a doctor or not having access to any resources to take care of them. Imagine running out of diesel fuel - the only way to keep warm in your camp - during the winter,” said Ayesha, who has experienced the harsh Baalbek herself. “This is the reality of the refugee crisis.” |
Through her firsthand experiences with refugees, Ayesha has learned - and seeks to explain to others - that human beings are the real victims of the crisis. The families leave their homes and their belongings behind in order to provide safety for their children, who are often traumatized by the war.
While she acknowledges that bordering countries like Lebanon have taken a toll from the influx, it is unfair to families who have lost everything to not be welcomed to safety.
While she acknowledges that bordering countries like Lebanon have taken a toll from the influx, it is unfair to families who have lost everything to not be welcomed to safety.
The political solution to the conflict in Syria has yet to be reached, but the international community cannot overlook the millions of refugees - including millions of children who will make up Syria’s next generation - who have fled the ongoing war. Ayesha encourages support for neighboring countries, so they can maintain infrastructure. Other countries should make commitments to accept additional refugees. |
“I know it’s hard to go over there and help people directly, but we should make it a point to ourselves to help out in any way that we can. Even if you can’t help financially, show your humanism,” said Ayesha. “Look at these people as human beings, not as a label. Because once you take the humanism out of it, you’re not considering these people as fellow human beings, but you think of them as an extra burden you have to deal with, politically, economically or socially.”