Syrian children make up for lost years

DAMASCUS - Upon seeing the people who are evacuating the eastern Ghouta countryside of the capital Damascus, one immediately noticed the unexpected number of children leaving with their families.

The ages of the children range between infants and 15 years old, but the younger age group is the most prominent among them.

During the war, the people in Damascus, mainly the newlyweds, largely opted to have one child in due to the war and the uncertainty that accompanies it.

In fact, many young men have decided not to get married because of the economic and security situation, let alone to have children.

But in eastern Ghouta, the situation seemed different somehow.

In one of the government-run shelters hosting thousands of people from the area, children are everywhere, with parents carrying those who are still too young to walk in their arms.

An old man, waiting to have his eyes checked due to an infection, said that having too many children is something in the heritage and culture of people in eastern Ghouta.

"The original people of the towns in eastern Ghouta are farmers and it is in their culture to have many children to help them in the land," he said.

A woman, who identified herself as Samira, said that she has six children, three of whom were born during the war.

"I know it's hard to raise that many children in the time of war, but they are gifts from the heavens and all I can say is thank God they are well," she said.

In this shelter, which was a training compound for electricity students before turning into a shelter for displaced people, 15 women gave birth upon arriving from the eastern Ghouta and they were taken to a nearby hospital to deliver their new babies.

There is no exact data of the number of the children who left with their families from eastern Ghouta toward the government-run shelters, but the government is working to prepare schools for them.

State news agency SANA said on Wednesday that the authorities are preparing to provide education to the children within centers equipped with all necessary educational tools.

Abdul-Rahman Khatib, head of another shelter for the people of eastern Ghouta, said that new schools will be opened next week for the children of the area.

Education poses a challenge as many of those of school age are dropouts who cannot read or write.

Karam, a 12-year-old boy, said he was 5 when the war broke out and "now I cannot read or write".

The boy is now excited about having a proper education after all the years of war.

So far, a total of 128,000 civilians have left rebel-held areas in eastern Ghouta through humanitarian corridors set up by the Syrian army.

Xinhua