Syrian refugees find hope in a smile and an olive

(Vatican Radio)  A smile and an olive are quietly giving hope to hundreds of Syrian refugee women and children in Lebanon which is struggling to cope with more than 1.5 million refugees as the conflict across its border marks its fourth year.

Women and children make up the majority of refugees in Lebanon; most fled Syria after their husbands, brothers, fathers and sons remained to fight, defend their property or die in the war.

Faced with the desperation, fear and depression of vast numbers of refugee women, a group of young Syrian expats in Beirut decided to take action, creating the association, “Basmeh & Zeitooneh” (a smile and an olive) to create friendships and give dignity and new opportunities to women close to giving up all hope.

The steep cost of living in Lebanon makes life difficult for refugees and natives alike says Reem Al-Haswani, a 28 year old Syrian woman who fled her small town outside Damascus in 2012.  Reem, who studied architecture before arriving in Beirut, helped build Basmeh & Zeitooneh into the officially recognized Lebanese NGO it is today and is a project coordinator.

She explains that the refugees truly struggle to make ends meet and that the standard $19.00 /month UN refugee agency food voucher for individuals is barely enough to “get a sandwich” in costly Lebanon.

On behalf of the association, Reem accepted the €10,000 “Women: Sowers of Peace Prize awarded by Voices of Faith and Caritas Internationalis at the Voices of Faith event on International Women’s Day on 8 March in the Vatican.

The organization, which provides income-generating skills training, psychological support, human rights courses and education for Syrian and Palestinian refugees and Lebanese, currently serves some 15,000 Syrians individuals in Beirut alone, and employs 70 full-time employees.  Basmeh & Zeitooneh also has teamed up with Médecins Sans Frontières to open a clinic to provide free services to pregnant women, young children and persons with chronic diseases and runs a school for some 400 children under the age of 14. The organization has four locations including Shatila and Burj Al Barajneh refugee camps in southern Beirut, one in the Bekaa Valley and another in northern Lebanon.

Syrian refugee women feel very vulnerable, says Reem, noting that Lebanon itself has seen some of the violence from her homeland spilling over into the land of the cedars. “They are very afraid.  This environment is very new to all of them.  They don’t know where to go; also, after three years (as refugees), they start to have this mentality of begging, begging NGOs to give them assistance.”

Listen to Tracey McClure’s interview with Reem Al-Haswani to hear more about the good work Basmeh & Zeitooneh is doing: