Peacepainting for Syrian refugees in Lebanon

“It proves to the children that even if they are small, they can be part of and spread peace in a subtle way according to their abilities.”
- Kamar Khankan, teacher at the Beqaa valley refugee camp in Lebanon

“Through this activity, the children can express the feelings that they cannot express via their words. This is especially good for our children who have had a lot of pain, fear, difficulties, and who lost people in their lives.”
- Mariam Daas, teacher at the Beqaa valley refugee camp in Lebanon

After over seven years of war in Syria, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon (as of March 2020).

Of these, more than 350 000 refugees are living in makeshift shelter camps in northern Beqaa, a fertile but harsh valley bordering Syria.

With EU support, Gruppo di Volontariato Civile (GVC) provides the refugees with shelter, drinking water and latrines. The aid group also runs protection programmes that assist refugees with disabilities, refer people with serious and chronic diseases to hospital.

The refugees in Beqaa mostly reside on private land belonging to Lebanese farmers. In return, refugees harvest olives, pick and stock tobacco leaves and herd cattle. Children, as young as thirteen, also work to support their families.

Multi Aid Programs (MAPs) is another NGO which operates in the Beqaa valley. They provide health support, relief and education to the many Syrian refugees, vulnerable Lebanese and Palestinians. Their 326 volunteers work endlessly to design and implement innovative programs which will help individuals and the community at large.

To support their work, and help reduce the trauma of war, we teamed up with Right to Play and MAPs (Multi Aid Organisation in Lebanon). We traveled to the Beqaa Valley to hold painting workshops for children and adults who have had to leave their homes in Syria.

Together, we worked to give a voice to the children and adolescents who have been hit hardest.

Lifting their voices through high quality exhibitions in public places, (e.g. airports), is therefore an important part of the work.

A part from conducting painting workshops for the refugees, we also trained 10 teachers from different refugee camps in Lebanon.

These are now able to how to continue our work, and independently create Peacepainting sessions for children and youth in the refugee camps.

We have also prepared a plan for child friendly spaces (CFS) in the refugee camps. These are intended to be spaces in the refugee camps where the children can get solidarity, hope and encouragement in their unfortunate sitauation.

For this purpose, a Peacepainting tent has been created for refugee camps. The tent is a space where the children can create, and get hope and encouragement as they will be able to physically create something that can influence adults in other parts of the world.

Peacepainting tent to be used in refugee camps, providing a child friendly space and hope for a better future.

The tent has an outer surface covered with solidarity messages from Peacepaitning participants from all over the world.

In addition to lifting their voices, the painting workshops are also part of the healing package for those who have suffered traumas in relation to the Syrian war.

Contrary to what one might think, a painting experience is actually much more than a way to pass ones time. In fact, there are powerful psychological processes involved during this simple activity and it can have very strong therapeutic effects.

Title: Devil May Cry. Text: Even the enemy has feelings. — Title: Devil May Cry.
Text: Even the enemy has feelings.

In the method that we have developed, we also wish to show the children and adults that their messages are highly valued and that they are able to contribute to making a change.

We believe that lifting, valuing and exhibiting the paintings superimposes the other benefits and makes it even more efficient.

To date, the paintings have been exhibited at the following locations:

Trondheim International Olavsfest (where they had special focus on the war in Syria)
UN building in Geneva, Switzerland
The Brønnøysund Register Centre, Norway
Bindal Town House, Norway