From the perspective of a child in a refugee camp in Lebanon
With an empty gaze, sitting on a pillow which is supposed to be a bed mattress, the nine year-old Rima recalls her days in Homs when everything used to be normal: “I miss playing with my friends. After school, we used to play a lot of football. We always lost track of time and played the whole afternoon until our mothers came to pick us up. But now, I cannot find any joy in playing football, especially in this place where everybody is drawn into a life of hopelessness and fear. I really miss my friends, and I miss having fun. I want to leave Lebanon.” In the small tent which serves Rima and her family as their temporary abode, you could literally feel the sadness. The place was too small for five people to live in. The smell of the food leftovers pervaded the room. Cooking pots, dishes and waste products were scattered everywhere and worst of all, the suffocating heat was unbearable.
Rima and her family are not the only people who have to live under such conditions. There are one million refugees registered in the Arsal refugee camp in Lebanon. They were forced to leave their country due to the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. Until the situation in Syria does not settle down, people will, unfortunately, have to suffer.
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