In early June Welfare Association Lebanon brought some much needed fun and laughter to the lives of 22 girls and boys 5-7 years of age who, under intermittent sniper fire, had been forced with their families to flee from homes in Nahr el Bared Palestinian Refugee Camp, North Lebanon due to the recent conflict.

Initially these 22 traumatized children had been temporarily housed in schools in nearby Beddawi Camp, alongside many hundreds of displaced Palestinian families from Nahr el Bared Camp. As the situation deteriorated and thousands more residents of Bared Camp fled to an already ill-equipped Beddawi, they joined close to 200 families who continued south to Bourj el Barajneh Camp Beirut, staying temporarily in already overcrowded living quarters alongside long term residents of Bourj.

To give these children, together with another 30 girls and boys from the local NGO NAMSC (National Association for Social Medical Care and Vocational Training) kindergarten in Bourj Camp, a chance to momentarily forget recent events a volunteer animation team from Family Care Lebanon put on an amazing participatory show, organized by WA Lebanon and held at the WA Said Khoury Library in Bourj Camp.

Six colorful clowns performed lively dances and acts focusing on respect for each other and good behavior, diverting their sad thoughts towards the future and responsible adulthood. At first it was the NAMSC KG children who responded, clapping enthusiastically and jumping up at any opportunity to dance together and hand in hand with the clowns. The children from the north, initially quiet, gradually one by one could not resist the opportunity to be part of the fun. Popular Arabic songs and a variety of games made up the show including a shower of confetti that fascinated the children who repeatedly gathered the papers off the floor to throw them again and again at each other. The adults could not resist the fun either, as KG teachers held hands with clowns and children to perform many boisterous rounds of Dabkeh. On leaving, each child received an educational gift for home, the beautifully illustrated Arabic book, “What I Should Do and What I Shouldn’t Do” (Author: George Trad, Publisher: Yuki Press), linked to the clown show theme. The attached photographs attest to a few hours of excitement and fun, sorely missing at this time in the lives of these delightful Palestinian children from Nahr El Bared and Borj El Barajneh.

A nice indicator of the success of this event was a comment from one 5 year old boy, echoed by several of the kids, “we don’t want to go, we don’t want it to end, we love the clowns, we want to stay here!”

Pre-school Palestinian children in need of some joy in somber times, all happily participating alongside each other in an activity that will remain in their memories, hopefully for a long time.