Syria Child Refugees

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Syria child refugees ₁

Syria Child Refugees

This scheme of work and activities are designed to introduce children and young people to the issue of Syrian child refugees.

The lesson plan and associated activities can be used as they are, but most of the resources are also able to be used as stand alone activities to supplement your own lessons.

This pack is most directly applicable to topics covered in Geography and Citizenship lessons and is aimed at KS 3 & 4 students, but can be easily adapted for use in other settings and with other age groups.

Fundraising ideas for your class, school or youth group are included and we always welcome your support. For more fundraising information, see our ‘how your school can help’ section on our website and take a look at our ‘fundraising toolkit’ and ‘fundraising ideas pages’.

SOS Children

Terrington House, 13-15 Hills Road Cambridge, CB2 1NL

Tel: 01223 365589 [email protected]

www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk Reg. Charity No: 1069204

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Syria Child Refugee Lesson Plan 1

Syria

Child Refugees Lesson Plan KS3/4

An introduction to the topical issue of children who flee war and become refugees.

PTO

Learning objectives:

• To introduce students to the abnormal lives that child refugees lead

• To encourage students to appreciate the challenging conditions that child refugees experience

• To learn about what SOS Children is doing to help children in Syria.

Resources:

• Introduction to child refugees Syria PowerPoint (supplied) • ‘What is a refugee?’ sheet (supplied)

• Syria refugees problems and solutions sheet (supplied) • Syria refugees ‘what’s the difference?’ sheet (supplied) • SOS Children in Syria sheet (supplied)

• Syria Emergency Appeal PowerPoint (supplied) • Syria case studies sheet (supplied).

Links to the National Curriculum: • Citizenship

• Geography

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Warm up – what is a refugee?

Have the first slide of the Introduction to child refugees PowerPoint on the screen as students come into the classroom.

Show the picture of Amjad (slide 2 on the introduction to Syria PowerPoint) and get students to discuss what they think a ‘refugee’ is and complete the

‘what is a refugee?’ sheet.

Once this sheet has been completed, continue with the PowerPoint, which contains information about what refugees are as well as the introducing Syria and some of the key problems facing the country and its children and what SOS Children is doing to help.

15 mins Introduction to child refugees Syria PowerPoint What is a refugee? sheet

A day in the life of a refugee

Get students to write a diary of a typical day in their life. Next, get them to imagine, and write down a day-in-the-life of a child refugee.

Does s/he live in a house made of bricks? What sorts of things does the child refugee eat? Does s/he go to school? Where does s/he live? How far does s/he have to walk everyday? How does s/he feel?

For younger children, or lower ability groups, use the Syria refugees ‘what’s the difference?’ sheet.

10 mins Syria refugees, ‘what’s the difference’ sheet Problems and solutions

Use the refugee camp ‘problems and solutions’ sheet to encourage students to think about the day-to-day difficulties facing those in charge of running the refugee camps that house Syrian refugees.

20 mins Problems and solutions sheet What is SOS Children doing?

Use the ‘SOS Children in Syria’ activity to develop student’s knowledge of what the charity is doing to help Syria in crisis. This sheet also includes a poster of SOS Children Supporting Children and Families in Syria. This can be used for display purposes, or as part of a

fundraising initiative (see below for ideas). Follow up with the Syria Emergency Appeal PowerPoint. 10 mins SOS Children in Syria sheet PTO

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Extension ideas:

• Research one of the two SOS Children’s Villages in Syria and produce a presentation • Write to the PM about the refugee crisis in Syria and asking him to increase aid.

How you can help:

Using their knowledge of refugees, get students to write a story, poem or draw a picture of what life is like for Syrian child refugees. Combine the work into a book and sell it, with money raised going towards the Syria Emergency Appeal. Students will love seeing their hard work in print! (Tip, if students need more ideas, they can use the Syria case studies sheet for

inspiration).

SOS Children

www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk

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Syria ‘what is a refugee’ quiz ₁

Syria

‘What is a refugee?’

A refugee is the name given to:

a) people who are forced to leave their home and country because of something they have done wrong

b) people who are forced to leave their home and country to escape war, persecution or natural disaster.

Refugees are able to:

a) return home whenever they like b) cannot return home easily

Refugees are:

a) happy to leave their home and country

b) afraid and sad to leave their home and country

Refugees are able to:

a) take all their possessions with them when they leave

b) have to leave most of their possessions at home and take only what they can carry

Refugees move into:

a) lovely new homes in a new country b) tents in a temporary camp

Refugees have:

a) lots of food, a balanced diet and clean water b) very little food, a balanced diet and clean water

Refugee children:

a) are able go to a good school with lots of resources and equipment

b) often stop attending school or attend schools in makeshift buildings with no pens or paper.

SOS Children

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Syria: refugees, what’s the difference? ₁

Syria

Refugees – what’s the difference?

Use this sheet as a follow on from the introduction to child refugees Syria PowerPoint, or as a standalone activity to get students to really think about the reality facing child

refugees.

Sheet objectives:

• To help younger and lower ability students to think more about refugees and what makes a child refugee’s life different from their own life

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Syria: refugees, what’s the difference? ₂

Write your answers in the spaces below.

• What is the one difference between refugees and you and me?

• What events do you think could have happened to cause a person to flee and leave everything behind?

• What types of experience might refugees endure during their escape?

• How would you feel if you were a refugee who had to leave your home, family and possessions behind and live in another country?

SOS Children

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Syria refugee problems and solutions ₁

Syria

Child refugees - problems and solutions

Use this interactive and thought provoking sheet to help high level students understand the numerous difficulties faced by those living in refugee camps and by those who organise them.

Get students to write down their solutions next to the problems listed below (OR, for lower ability or younger students, complete this activity as a whole class).

PTO

Sheet objectives:

• To show students just how difficult it is to a) organise a refugee camp and b) how hard it is to live in one

• To get students to think independently

• To help students develop problem solving skills

Getting more out of the sheet:

• Go round the class and ask for different students’ solutions. Ask them to explain and justify their solution.

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Syria refugee problems and solutions ₂

Imagine you are the director of a charity helping to organise a refugee camp in Lebanon, Jordan or Iraq for Syrian refugees.

It is your job to identity the problem and try and come up with solutions to some of the big issues facing families and children in the refugee camp.

This challenge is designed to be thought provoking, getting you to appreciate the difficulties associated with living in, and running, refugee camps.

Despite charities organising food packages for people, there is not enough food for everyone and children are becoming malnourished.

Problems Solutions

Families have very little money and have to send their children out to work in order to survive. One 12 year-old-boy spends his days selling crisps instead of playing and learning.

Children, like 13 year-old Khalid, no longer attend school because there is no money. Any money there is must be spend on food and other basic

essentials.

With lots of people living close together limited access to sanitation and clean drinking water means that infectious diseases and illnesses spread fast.

Security is an issue, with crime and disorder spreading. Some children are even being recruited by armed groups.

e.g. Persuade governments across the world to increase their

contributions to food aid and make sure that there is as much specially fortified food for children and babies available as possible.

SOS Children

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SOS Children in Syria ₁ www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk

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SOS Children in Syria ₂

Syria

SOS Children helping Syrian refugees

Pair up the cards

Providing more than 60,000 meals to displaced families in Damascus and Aleppo

To help people have at least one hot meal a day

Running the ‘My right to

education programme’, helping get children registered for school, arranging to pay school fees and providing back-to-school kits

To help children who haven’t been to school in two years continue their education and have the opportunity to continue their development Providing children with

psychological support

So that children are able to overcome the trauma they have experienced and move on with their lives

Stepping up emergency relief, including food packages and medical care

So that families have their basic rights met

Continuing to provide everyday care for the children who live in the SOS Children’s Villages in Damascus (Qodsaya) & Aleppo

So that Syria’s most vulnerable children are well looked after and loved

SOS Children

Providing infant milk to mothers as prices soar

To make sure that babies and young children get the nutrients vital for their healthy growth

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Syria case studies ₁

Syria

Case studies Case study 1

“Fear is the trademark of our daily life" - how Syrian families try to survive (adapted from original article by Carole Alfarah)

Mohamed (46) and Amani (31) have four children: Rama (14), Lana (11), Shahed (6) and Zakaraia (4).

Today, Mohamed is unemployed. He worked in an embroidery workshop in Damascus - and lost his job following the war in Syria.

"For 6 months now I have had no job. My family recently escaped from our home’.

‘Every day there was shooting and random shelling. One night, when the fighting was very close, I hid my family in the bathroom. All night, we lay on the floor full of fear. As a father, my duty is to protect my family and to provide them with care and support, but how can I reassure and comfort? I did not know what to do in this situation.’

A few months ago, there was a huge explosion in Kazaz – where Mohamed’s daughters go

to school. They were in school that day.

‘I will never forget the moment of the explosion, the sound was so strong. When I read in the news that it took place in Kazaz, all what came into my mind was: Rama and Lana, my daughters! I left home, ran towards the school screaming, 'Please God, protect my

daughters!' Since that day my daughters fear going to school. Today we live with the family of my wife in the Naher Aysheh area and it is not a secure area either, but we don't have any other choice. Everything is unknown and uncertain. I can't send my daughters to school, I am too worried. We used to live in peace, we never needed anyone's support."

Lana, the eleven-year-old, says: "I love going to school but none of my friends wants to go there because of the explosions, even my sister, she is often very scared. I want to go back home, it is the only place where I feel comfortable."

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Syria case studies ₂

Case study 2

‘Children in Damascus have become so accustomed to the loud sounds of rocket fire

and the sight of smoke rising in the distance, that they no longer take notice,’ said

Tommy Standún from SOS Children’s Villages.

Tommy is one the few Europeans to witness the current reality facing displaced families as they prepare for Ramadan in the Syrian capital. The moment he arrived in Hamza and Abbas

Mosque, he heard a loud blast.

In spite of the shattering noise created by a rocket that has just exploded within a kilometre of the mosque, a little girl does not let go of the toy doll she holds tightly. The head of the mosque shows how some of Syria’s displaced people live.

Many families are living in the mosque. Mattresses cover the available floor space. Men and boys sleep in one room while women, girls and babies share a similar room at the opposite side of the mosque. People try there best to keep their own small areas as clean and tidy as possible. It is important for them to keep their dignity.

In a small kitchen volunteers prepare up to 500 meals every day. They feed the families living in the mosque as well as other people desperate for food. The price of infant milk and staple foods is very high and people cannot afford to buy food.

Another rocket explodes.

Byan only went to school for 1 month this year. Her dream of becoming a teacher is fading. She has just found out that she has failed her exams.

Her parents are desperate to get her and her brothers and sisters back to school because they understand the importance of education.

Holding her one-year-old baby in her arms, her mother

hopes that Byan can catch up in September but the fighting continues.

SOS Children