The war cast a shadow over hundreds of thousands of children in the north of Syria, where they are now suffering from major disorders, threatening their healthy and integrated development, and in order to address these great challenges that occur in their upbringing, and the advancement of the child scientifically and intellectually, WATAN began implementing its activities through the “Ahlan Sesame” project for the rehabilitation of caregivers, which targets the following centers:
1- Al-Dana Modernised Center, Al-Dana Modernised School, Aldana, Harem, Idlib
2- Tariq Bin Ziyad Center, Idlib, Harem, Al Dana, Al Bardaqli, Aleppo Labeeh Camps, New Life Camp, Tariq bin Ziyad School.
3- Al-Qadisiyah Center, Idlib, Harem, Al-Dana, Mashhad Rouhin, Aramel Al-Maarat Camp, Maimouna Bint Al-Harith School.
This comes within the framework of its cooperation with the International Rescue Foundation (IRC), where the project aims to enhance interaction between caregivers and their children. The activities also target caregivers and parents of children under the age of eight with the aim of empowering the caregiver with the knowledge and skills necessary to protect his or her child from risks and abuse.
It is noteworthy that, since the beginning of January, the education team at WATAN Foundation began preparing for the establishment of new early childhood care centers and coordinating with stakeholders and local authorities. With the beginning of the second month and until now, the field work teams in the centers have begun to register the new beneficiaries of the caregivers and their children. Immediately, the facilitators began to provide various services to the project for both caregivers and children, which range from direct physical sessions, home awareness visits, WhatsApp groups, which focus on the following:
1- The concept of effective care and enriching and enhancing relationships.
2- Child growth and development
3- Positive discipline
4- Psychosocial support for the caregiver and the child
5- Learning through playing
The basics of school readiness
7- A safe and supportive physical environment
8- Communicating with the child
9- Child protection
10- Personal hygiene
The children’s sessions also dealt with a set of planned activities aimed at supporting children’s integrated development and preparing them for their proper integration into their societies in the upcoming developmental stages. Disadvantaged groups who have difficulty accessing centers were also targeted through home awareness visits and the formation of discussion groups for caregivers on WhatsApp, and various discussions related to parenting skills were raised.
With the launch of the project at the beginning of the year, the number of caregivers directly targeted through physical sessions is 108 people, including 90 displaced people and 18 residents. The number of caregivers directly targeted through home awareness sessions is 384 people, including 332 displaced people and 52 residents. As for the number of caregivers targeted through WhatsApp groups, it reached 156 people, including 130 displaced people and 56 residents.
The number of children directly targeted was 108 children (65 males and 43 females), including 90 displaced people and 18 residents. Finally, the number of children targeted indirectly, as their parents benefited from the project, is about 931 children (518 males and 413 females).
The project is expected to contribute to increasing the participation of parents in times of crises by focusing on effective parenting and creating a supportive, safe and inclusive environment for their children. The project is also expected to alleviate the burden due to pressures they suffer from and allow for an environment for the healthy and integrated development of children to make them independent and skilled individuals in the future who contribute to building their societies.