Mlisso was a philosophy student at Saint Joseph University of Beirut and a civil engineering graduate from Damascus. He decided not to work in either of these fields, instead participating full time in the provision of aid. He explained that the Shatila refugee camp had been selected for the association’s headquarters. The camp included a large number of displaced Syrians and Syrian-Palestinians, and foreign organizations did not provide direct aid to the camp, given the tense situation prevailing there. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is the only organization that, in collaboration with Basma Wa Zaytuna, has opened a dispensary in the association headquarters to provide women and children with free medical care and medication. The dispensary is packed with patients throughout its operating hours. MSF also provides mattresses, blankets, cleaning products and kitchenware.

Fadi Mlisso, board director of the association and one of the first volunteers, said food donations lasted for six months, from September to March 2012. The youths then decided to expand their scope, given that the pace of international aid was slow compared with the influx of the displaced.

Association head Georges Talams, who holds an master's degree in economics, said that in December 2012 he fled Syria, where he was a student at the University of Damascus. Upon arriving in Beirut, he met the youths, who were collecting donations from individuals to provide the displaced in the Bekaa Valley with food. Talams joined in on the efforts.

The group had started to raise funds to provide food to those who cannot afford it. Then the group became an association bearing the name of Basma Wa Zaytuna [Arabic for “smile and olive”] and moved from provision of food to the opening of a children’s school in the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut.

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. This is the attitude adopted by a group of Syrian youth to help the displaced and change their lives, especially the lives of children and women.

From individuals to institutions

Aid began through donations collected from Syrian businessmen. Then the youths discovered that there were other persons who wanted to donate. The contributors’ only condition was that aid be given to families and persons not involved in military actions, and through a neutral party that has no political objectives. “We do not ask about the people’s religion or political affiliation,” said Talams.

So far, the largest part of the funding is still provided by individuals in Beirut and abroad, including Lebanese businessmen, as well as several institutions. A Facebook page has helped introduce the association abroad. For instance, a female Swedish singer decided to hold a concert at Christmas and send the proceeds to the association. In Beirut, two French journalists held a concert in a club in Gemmayze. The announcement was made on Facebook and Syrian singers performed. It was attended by 245 people and the proceeds were donated to the association.

A school accommodating 300 children

The school was opened at the start of the current academic year. A floor in the association’s headquarters was equipped for this purpose. The school relies particularly on donations made by businessmen. It has the ability to accommodate 300 children, but there are only 245 students, because some children were transferred to other schools where scholarships are granted to Syrian refugees. Nevertheless, there are still many children out of school because they are forced to work to help their parents.

These children range between six and 14 years of age and have been distributed over four educational levels, from kindergarten through sixth grade. The official Lebanese curriculum has been adopted and is taught from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. However, the school has yet to be acknowledged by the Ministry of Education, while the association’s activists have expressed their hopes to obtain a license from the ministry.

Mlisso explained that they turned to experts specialized in dealing with war-exposed children to help students overcome the pressure they are under. The academic staff consists of 12 male and female Syrian teachers who hold university degrees, in addition to the principal, social assistant and headmistress. The school was recently built; its walls are painted with joyful colors and it maintains good cleanliness. “We will continue to teach these children until they return to Syria,” Mlisso said.

As part of the academic program, there is the peace education project, to which the Adyan Foundation contributes. It includes 300 children in Shatila and Burj el-Barajneh. It helps them release stress and includes two trips per month to local entertainment venues, namely Jeita Grotto, the zoo and an amusement park.

There is the literacy center where 30 people learn [written] Arabic, including women and children who did not go to school in Syria. A number of them are learning English and computer skills. The learning period is spread over three years, which is the approximate time needed to master Arabic.

Craft activities for women

There are two handicraft centers affiliated with the association, one of which is in Shatila and includes 50 women. Another is in al-Burj and includes 20 women. In those centers, women learn how to embroider and knit hats, blankets, bags and clothes for children. A third center will be opening soon in the Bekaa Valley to accommodate 20 women.

According to Talams, the centers are designed to teach women a simple skill that allows them to make some money, provide them with a secure environment so they do not have to ask for aid and help them vent some of the concerns they have. Women spend three hours per day at the center and receive an income ranging between 100,000 to 250,000 Lebanese pounds [$67-167] per month. Office of Transition Initiatives-Lebanon, a Lebanese bureau backed by USAID, provides women with fabrics, sewing machines and embroidery tools.

Cultural center

The food distribution program is designed to provide 100 families in the Shatila camp, 50 families in the Burj el-Barajneh camp, and 50 families in the north and Shebaa with food aid on a monthly basis, with the assistance of the Muslim Charity Organization, which distributes food rations and milk to children.

The association provides for 20 families of orphans and old people, including three orphans — a 15-year-old girl and her two brothers — in Burj el-Barajneh camp. The girl and her brothers had lost their mother in the shelling and their father put them in the shelter and left. The association pays rent and daily expenses and offers a monthly food ration, in addition to educational services, for the children.

There is also a medical project that pays the cost of medication, X-rays and lab analyses for the needy. Priority is given to children and people suffering from chronic and incurable diseases, except for cancer patients, since the association cannot bear the prohibitive costs of medications needed to treat these diseases.

Moreover, Basma Wa Zaytuna has set up a renovation project for houses rented by displaced people. The project entails renovating 10 houses per month to improve accommodation conditions of the displaced and employ several workers.

The association is also seeking to build a cultural center on the top floor of the [headquarters] building to hold cultural and artistic activities and host artists who would like to sing, play music, paint, carve and sculpt. Poetry nights will also be held, and a movie theater will be opened in the future.

Julia, who is in charge of the center, said that a reading spot is being set up and will also serve as a place for students to do their schoolwork. This is good for children who find it difficult to work at home because it is overcrowded.

The association conducts a cleaning campaign in the camp once a month. It sometimes paints its outer walls with appreciative words to welcome displaced people into the camp.

On another note, activists do not know how to discuss birth control with the displaced, as it is still a highly resented topic among them. It seems that a large number of Syrian people do not give much importance to birth control. This is clearly shown in the high population growth, which puts Syria in third place globally after Gaza and Somalia. In the Shatila camp alone, MSF pays the expenses for 60 births per month.