The first children’s park opened in the Takaful camp close to the Atme border crossing with Turkey on Monday, the first day of Eid al-Adha, as part of a festival organized by the Zelal Foundation in coordination with volunteers from Ghorras al-Amal.
Zelal Executive Manager Abed al-Razzak told Zaman al-Wasl that the project is supported by the Canadian Right to Play organization in order to promote children's wellbeing and to try to educate them through games.
He indicated that the park included, “swings, slides, and balance machines,” as well as a tarmac court with two football goals and two basketball rings. He said that Zelal designed the park for use by around 100 children.
Razzak revealed that Right to Play had indicated that Zelal would be granted permission to build a number of children’s parks in the border camps area in the event the project and teaching goals succeed.
Mohammad, one of the 500 children who attended the event, from Kafr Zeita in Hama’s countryside, expressed his happiness with the opening of the park, adding that until recently he had only seen such parks on television.
Ahmad Najjar, a volunteer from Ghorras al-Amal, told Zaman al-Wasl that opening the park painted happiness on the faces of children who attended.
Many organizations are trying to install awareness programs that adopt teaching through games as over 30,000 children reside in camps across northern Syria, most of whom have been deprived of a proper childhood.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
