– What do you prefer for lunch tomorrow, honey? I’ll go now and prepare your lunchbox.
– Can I have a tuna sandwich with some cucumbers? And some strawberries? Please?
– Ok, but make sure you eat the whole meal, not just the strawberries.
– I promise, mom.
This is a typical conversation between a child and his mom, planning for a healthy school lunchbox, but not for a Syrian child refugee, who was forced to flee his country to save his life.Among Syrian children today, you’ll find many who have been forced into labor, leaving their schools, dreams, and toys behind.
Instead of asking him about what he’d like to have in his lunchbox, a mother may have to ask her son for money to buy food for his younger siblings.
According to UNICEF, 1.75 million children across Syria are no longer in school and some 2.5 million are living as refugees, or on the run in search of safety.
8.4 million Syrian children, inside and outside the country, are in need of humanitarian aid, and millions have borne witness to unrelenting violence from the brutal conflict that began more than six years ago.
Umar, who’s featured in this video, is one of those Syrian children who lost their childhood because of war.