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Project March 12, 2015

Child Survivors of War Learn Nonviolence, Pluralism, Hope

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Image by Lauren Gelfond. Jordan, 2014.

Syrian nonviolent activists join forces with international volunteers to lead traveling hope and peace camps for Syrian children who fled to Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq. The brainchild of a 24-year-old Syrian woman who has a master's degree in conflict resolution, the program teaches children that after the war, they can eventually become young leaders helping to rebuild a new Syria, committed to nonviolence and interfaith cooperation.

The volunteers can't work inside of Syria now, but they can work with refugee children to create a new generation with different values. At the very least, they believe, they can give children with post-traumatic stress disorder desperately needed laughter, attention and hope. Volunteers pay for travel and accommodations out of their own pockets to reach the most disadvantaged refugee neighborhoods near the Syrian border.

Lauren Gelfond Feldinger went on the road with the group in Jordan to observe their work with the child survivors of war and interview them about their lives, values, and hopes.

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