Making A Difference: CAS Syrian Refugees

ARIS IB Diploma Programme students, supported by Secondary 2 students, share their experience with a heartfelt Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) project. This article is written by Rama El-Hassan.

On our first day, we distributed one hundred and eighty 18kg non-perishable food boxes to Syrian refugee families housed in abandoned war-torn buildings. These abandoned buildings are patched up and assigned to refugees, with a manager in each building. We distributed in four different shelter homes which house 56 families, 28 families, and 17 families respectively; the last shelter housing is unknown because it is not registered with the United Nations. The buildings are in bad condition, with no heating, basic plumbing or electrical systems.







We spoke with special needs refugees who had lost limbs due to bombs, sniper attacks. We met children who were traumatised and began screaming and crying when they saw us. Some of the kids are fortunate enough to go to local government schools and are making the best out of this blessing. A majority of the refugees are very humble, peaceful and thankful. There was only one disturbing incident, where a man was being aggressive towards the team. 




We will distribute another one hundred and eighty boxes tomorrow in refugee camps. This is best experience of our lives and after what we've seen, we realised how blessed we are.

Thank you Mr. Trumper, Dr. Fatma, Madam Dhalia, Madam Nabila El Hassan (Rama and Leila's mother), Ms. Leila El Hassan, Ms. Mayar Ayman and Ms. Rama El Hassan for making this happen.

On the second day, we distributed 166 food boxes to the Syrian refugees in three different camps. These camps were in extremely poor condition, with one bathroom to every 15 people. Most tents contained more than one family; each family comprising some six individuals, as a result of the lack of money. For these few Syrian refugees, lack of money means lack of even the most simple and basic necessities of life.