Abed copes with his new life, supported by his mother

Al-Tal, Rural Damascus, Syria, August 2021 – Three years ago, financial hardship made the family of 11-year-old Abed move back to Syria after having spent their whole life in another country. Abed was the one who struggled the most after the return. He had to cope with his new life amid deteriorating living conditions in Syria, his home country.

“He wouldn’t communicate with anyone at school,” says Ashwak, Abed’s mother. His teachers recommended the family to take him to a UNICEF-supported child-friendly space in Al-Tal, where the family lives. That was a game-changer. Following three months of individual psychosocial support sessions and participation in group activities at the child-friendly space, Abed began retrieving his social appetite and started embracing his new life. “He’s a totally different person now,” says his mother.

“Our children should not be the bearers of all the stress that is inflicted upon us by life, especially with the current challenges in Syria,” says Ashwak during a UNICEF-supported parental care and positive upbringing guidance session at the same child-friendly space Abed goes to. When she first approached the centre with her son, Ashwak was invited to register in the parental care programme and participate in a four-day course. The course, a part of the programme, helps raise the awareness of caregivers about their children’s development needs and best practices to communicate with and support them while maintaining good care of themselves as parents. The parental care programme also introduces special courses on integrating children with disabilities within their families. “They opened my eyes to many important things. I now know that I should spend more quality time with my children, listen to them and be calmer while dealing with them,” adds Ashwak.