Suhair Al-Idlibi

Idlib - Disabled children with special needs are paying the highest price of the civil war that has been lasting for more than nine years in Syria. They have suffered from poverty and displacement in addition to lack of access to treatment, care, and education services.

A disabled child Alaa Al-Muhammad (10) is one of these children and he was forcibly displaced along with his family from Khan Sheikhoun city, in mid-2019 to the Sarmada camps. He has suffered from Down syndrome and spent his days moving between his tent and the neighboring tents, playing a little bit with mud and stones. He needs all forms of attention and care but he does not receive them.

His mother Samira Al-Awad (38) says that she has three children, two are with disabilities, and they suffer from neglect and recklessness inside the camp. She adds, "Since our displacement, we have been facing all forms of poverty, oppression, and torment.”

 Another disabled child Hayyan Bakour (12) lost his leg as a result of the bombing on Saraqib city, in 2016, he has spent his time drawing in front of his tent, and he says, “I feel bored here because I cannot play with children or take education because there is no school, so I try to practice my favorite hobby drawing.  I draw trees, the sky, and the clouds.

Disabled children rarely receive support from any party. So, an initiative in northern Syria started a project to provide all needs for disabled children under a slogan saying “Our Children are Our Energy not Obstructions". They established the “Creative Minds" center on April 1, 2019 in Kafr Nasih town to provide health, development, and educational services for disabled children.

The center has many sessions for children from all ages suffering from physical disability, hemiplegia, amputation, deformities, chronic diseases, deaf and dumb, blind, and Down syndrome. The center works to provide medical services and supplies such as mobility aids, prosthetics, hearing aids and glasses, medicines, and drugs.

 The director of the center, Ammar Hilal (30) says, "We are trying to do our best to take care of disabled children, whose number has increased during the years of civil war. We try to integrate them with their healthy peers through several rehabilitation projects and programs for communities and achieving all goals".

The center has been able to help more than 1,500 children by providing various services. Ammar Hilal indicates that the center will continue to implement its projects in northern Syria.