Syrian Refugee Children Warm Hearts at Tent Camp in Middle East

Children from the Adventist Learning Center bring clothing and food to the camp in Lebanon.

By Chanmin Chung, communication coordinator, Middle East and North Africa Union

Twenty-seven Syrian refugee students from the Adventist Learning Center in Beirut piled into a tiny rented bus for the 90-minute drive to northern Lebanon to deliver sacks of clothing and donated food to other refugees at a tent camp.

The project started as a simple assignment to express gratitude for the donations and support that the Adventist Learning Center receives every year from around the world.

“Each of our students has their story of loss and trauma, but despite their past, they can learn to reach out and bless others,” said Alexis Hurd-Shires, director of the Adventist Learning Center in the Lebanese capital.

The school’s refugee children, who are presented with winter jackets, rain boots, and a shoebox filled with useful items every Christmas, were challenged this year to find a way to help others. Hurd-Shires said the students diligently embraced the task, even though many don’t know from month to month whether they will have enough food to eat or whether their parents will be able to make the rent payments on their shabby living quarters. The students collected clothing, shoes, and food by going door to door in their neighborhoods, filling 30 large black trash bags with goods.

The gesture of self-sacrifice from the refugee children touched Seventh-day Adventist leaders.

“Sometimes I am struck with how many times we share what we have at no sacrifice, but others share what they need at great sacrifice,” said Rick McEdward, president of the Middle East and North Africa Union.

Refugees at the tent camp in northern Lebanon swiftly surrounded the school’s rented bus as soon as it parked in the muddy field. The refugee students, wearing their new jackets, rain boots, and warm hats, expressed shock at seeing children without shoes and laundry hanging to dry in freezing weather.

The teachers also voiced dismay.

“A drop of icy water rolled down my neck and two more soaked through my hair,” fourth-grade teacher Giedre Asmar said after stepping into a refugee tent. “I was shocked to see that the tent roof had collapsed from the weight of the rainwater. But the refugees told me that their living conditions are tolerable until it snows.”

Days after the visit in late December, the snow season began in northern Lebanon.

Syrian refugee children from the Adventist Learning Center took turns carrying bags of clothes and food to each tent. Then they scattered out to spend some time with the refugees.

“There is no running water, no carpet on the floor, and no school,” student Mohammad, 10, said after the visit.

Under the olive trees, the visiting students played soccer with tent children who hadn’t seen a ball in a long time. Other students wandered through the tents, talking to those living there.

Behind one tent, a group of boys found a teenage girl trying to build a tiny fire to heat some water for washing clothes. Quickly they scattered to help her find more wood and then manned the fired under her metal pot.

“The students told me that they feel like their lives are easy after they saw the lives of the tent kids,” Hurd-Shires said.

After the visit, the visitors and refugees gathered in the muddy field to say goodbye.

“When we were about to leave, one older woman whispered to me that we had made them forget about their circumstances and where they were for a few hours,” Hurd-Shires said.