Reem: “My dad was scared. He was scared for us, so we came [to Lebanon]. We became scared throughout the night as we would listen to the sound of bombing, bombing, bombing. My dad was scared, and the next morning our house was bombed. So we came here.”

VO: These children are refugees from the war in Syria. They have seen so much already and are now just trying to do what most kids get to do, to attend school.

Reem: “I’m supposed to be in the 8th grade in Syria, I’ve come to this organization to study. I can study now, that’s better than losing another year of school.”

VO: This small community center has taken in more than 100 kids from Syria. They don’t have to pay anything to attend. After what they’ve been through, these children just want some semblance of a normal life, but living conditions for refugees don’t make it easier.

VO: The poorest live in camps with no running water or sanitation, and rely on renting diesel generators for a few hours of electricity.

Most are women and children who have to pool their resources and rely on handouts from aid agencies.

They typically come with only the clothes on their backs, escaping violence in exchange for the precarious existence of a refugee.

Khaled: “The children–God help them–have seen what no one else in the world has seen.

We try to help them forget, we try….These kids were traumatized. We try to tell them ‘Everything’s ok, thank God, this place is nice, the weather is nice,’ and so forth.”

“The minors are the people… …who are less than 18 years old.

Reem: “We arrived a month ago and we heard about this organization that opened its doors for Syrians. My dad registered us and we came immediately. Since I joined I haven’t missed a day.”

Samah: “They can draw, express their problems through drawing and what’s formed in their imaginations. They can express their feelings, and use theater to express themselves. Of course we give them hope through the things we present to them like: Psychological support, educational support, housing and entertainment. And then they begin to feel that the world is good and there’s good things ahead.”

VO: On this day a Lebanese school serves as a distribution center for essential items. Parents fill out forms and register their names to receive clothing and toiletries as their kids play in the schoolyard.

VO: Many of the families here are sharing apartments they’ve rented in the neighborhood, sometimes with 10 to 15 people in a two-room place.

Om Nour: “We were staying here on our own for a month, and then my brother-in-law’s family joined us. And now my parents came too because they don’t have a place to stay.”

VO: They lack basic household goods, but despite their conditions, at least they are escaping the violence in Syria.

Om Nour: “We became afraid when we heard the sound of guns. All of us became afraid, the kids became afraid. But the guns didn’t make us the most afraid, it was the heavy shelling that did it. The tanks and rockets, that’s what scared us more than guns.”

Sister: “The first thing, the first thing is to be provided with a decent home, and school comes after that.”

Om Nour: “I’m trying….I’m trying to make them less afraid. I’m trying to do the impossible. I take them out and buy them toys to make them have fun. We take them somewhere, just to make them forget a bit.”

Khaled:  Really, life is hard, it’s hard. But the winter is the toughest problem. We are worried about the winter. In the summer we can manage, but the winter is a problem. Hopefully everything will be better, the situation will improve, and God will make it better. We're simple people. There’s nothing we can do.”