{"id":161420,"date":"2016-09-08T17:39:36","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T17:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/for-this-14-year-old-boy-life-as-a-refugee-meant-growing-up-fast\/"},"modified":"2024-01-29T14:39:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T14:39:46","slug":"for-this-14-year-old-boy-life-as-a-refugee-meant-growing-up-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/for-this-14-year-old-boy-life-as-a-refugee-meant-growing-up-fast\/","title":{"rendered":"For this 14-year-old boy, life as a refugee meant growing up fast"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story by Corinna Robbins is from Mercy Corps<\/em>, a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible<\/i><\/span>. Learn more here<\/a>.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Hammoudi\u2019s deep brown eyes were the first thing I noticed when I met him in his family\u2019s tent in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

They stare out from a boyish face, freckled and apple-cheeked. At 14, Hammoudi is a quiet and serious kid, and his penetrating gaze immediately gives you the sense that he has seen a lot \u2013 too much for someone so young.<\/p>\n

The second thing I noticed was Hammoudi\u2019s hands. Sitting on the floor of his tent, his fingers interlaced in his lap, I spotted the telltale dirt and grease in his cuticles that I recognize from my own father, who also worked with machinery and equipment when I was growing up.<\/p>\n

Barely a teen, Hammoudi has working man\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

\"Hammoudi<\/p>\n

Hammoudi\u2019s hands tell the story of how he spends his days: not learning in a school, but working in a garage. (All photos: Corinna Robbins\/Mercy Corps)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He and his family fled their home in the suburbs of Aleppo four years ago after Syria\u2019s war came too close.<\/p>\n

\u201cHammoudi and [his older brother] Mustafa actually witnessed the shellings. There was a shell that dropped right next to our house, so they saw that,\u201d says Hamida, Hammoudi\u2019s mother. \u201cThey knew, this was a war and we have to leave because it is not safe anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the family, including Hammoudi\u2019s parents and three siblings, went to Lebanon. The family has left behind the airstrikes and danger of Syria, but they also had to give up many things they didn\u2019t want to lose \u2014 including any semblance of a normal childhood for Hammoudi.<\/p>\n

Education out of reach<\/strong><\/p>\n

More than half of school-aged Syrians in Lebanon are out of school. Hammoudi is, too.<\/p>\n

When his family first arrived in Lebanon, they found the same problem as so many Syrians: no local school could take him.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a priority for Hammoudi\u2019s dad, Abdelbasset, that Hammoudi and his siblings continue their education. In Syria, Abdelbasset had been a taxi driver. He had to drop out of school in ninth grade, and he was determined his own children would have the opportunities he had been denied.<\/p>\n

\"Hammoudi<\/p>\n

Hammoudi\u2019s parents say they feel guilt and anger that their children aren\u2019t in school. The biggest reason they want him to work is so he learns a skill that he can use in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

So the family searched and searched and eventually enrolled Hammoudi in boarding school. He had been a good student in Syria, finishing the fourth grade before the family fled the war. Math and Arabic were his favorite subjects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in school, my dream was to become a very smart engineer,\u201d he told me. \u201cI like to build a lot of cool-looking stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just 10 years old at the time, Hammoudi missed being away from his family. Worse, the tuition rapidly ate through the family\u2019s savings over the course of the year.<\/p>\n

Abdelbasset got a job selling strawberries on the side of the road every day for the three months of berry season. It was a little income, but not enough.<\/p>\n

Eventually, he told me, he had to make some difficult decisions: \u201cDo I pay rent or put my children in school or feed my family?\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, it was no choice at all. Unable to pay tuition, he withdrew Hammoudi from school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to leave school when they told me I had to because I didn\u2019t want to stop learning,\u201d Hammoudi says. \u201cAnd I didn\u2019t want to leave my friends because I had some really great friends there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learning a trade<\/strong><\/p>\n

With no good school options for Hammoudi, Abdelbasset and Hamida did something they never wanted to do: They found a job for their young son in a mechanic\u2019s garage. He works as an assistant to the mechanic six days a week. Each week he makes $30, which he gives to his parents.<\/p>\n

The money is helpful for the family who, like most Syrian refugees, lives in grinding poverty. But Hamida insisted it\u2019s not the main reason for sending Hammoudi to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s actually learning something and working and investing his time in something and not just playing around,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen he grows up he will be able to have a craft and open his own business, hopefully.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hammoudi<\/p>\n

Hammoudi works six days a week as an assistant to a mechanic. On his day off, he works with his father, selling produce on the side of the highway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As a mother, I recognize the pain that comes with doing the best you can, but knowing that it\u2019s not enough. When your child suffers, you feel the pain doubly.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I am very angry,\u201d Hamida says. \u201cI feel guilty because Hammoudi should be in school and he shouldn\u2019t be working. And education is definitely much better than work at this age.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the garage, Hammoudi mops the floor, hands the mechanic the tools he needs, and watches closely all the time. He says he wants to do more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mechanic tells me all about the car parts, but I can not work on them. I\u2019m just basically listening and the mechanic asks me to come and watch, but I don\u2019t really work on fixing stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a bit too young to work and studying would be better for me,\u201d Hammoudi says, echoing his mother\u2019s thoughts. \u201cBut this is how it is right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helping families cope with challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this midst of this crisis that leaves too many refugees with too few options, Mercy Corps is focused on helping families to become strong, independent and able to shape a future for themselves and their children of their choosing.<\/p>\n

Hamida joined a Mercy Corps women\u2019s group<\/a> that gives her skills to cope with the stress she and her children endure.<\/p>\n

Hammoudi joined an art therapy program that helps kids like him process the challenges they face as refugees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to draw, which I love. I crafted my own home out of cardboard and things in nature,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Through our art therapy program, he also created a stop-motion animation video about his experience working at such a young age and the frustrations he feels about not being able to go to school.<\/p>\n

The program relieves some of his feelings of isolation.<\/p>\n

\"Hammoudi<\/p>\n

Syrian enrollment in Lebanese schools is growing, thanks to a recognition of the crisis posed by an uneducated generation. Still, there are barriers. The UN reports less than half of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon go to school.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhen I participate in these activities,\u201d he says, \u201cit feels like I am not a stranger anymore. Like I\u2019m not strange to people my age. I\u2019m like them. It is a very good feeling that I am not that different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Hammoudi was telling us about these sessions, he was actually doing what he loves,\u201d Abdelbasset says. \u201cAll the family was very happy that Hammoudi was happy and was benefiting. At least he\u2019s become a bit more at ease.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day I visited, his parents saw Hammoudi\u2019s video for the first time. In it, he shares the story of his journey from Syria and his experience in Lebanon.\u00a0 His story, together with his art, reveal a boy wrestling with an awful dilemma: Is it time give up his dreams?<\/p>\n

It brought Hamida to tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really, really loved the video because it depicts the story of our family,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m forgetting how to read and write\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the last year, many Lebanese schools have opened a second shift so that Syrian children can enroll in the evenings. As a result, more Syrian refugees have access to education in Lebanon than before.<\/p>\n

But there are still significant barriers. Many families are uncomfortable with their kids out at night, fearing for their safety as they walk home from school. Most don\u2019t live close enough to walk, and transportation costs are high.<\/p>\n

Hammoudi had an opportunity to enroll at an education center for some remedial schooling recently, but his family couldn\u2019t afford to get him there.<\/p>\n

So for now at least, he continues his informal apprenticeship with the mechanic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest thing right now is that I\u2019m not in school,\u201d Hammoudi says. \u201cI\u2019m forgetting how to read and write and it is very, very annoying. And I have a feeling that I\u2019m never going back to school.\u201d<\/p>\n

I visited on a Sunday, his day off from the garage. He played cards with his cousin, who also lives in the settlement, and kicked a soccer ball. But he was listless, losing interest in the games after a few minutes each. He seemed unable to relax.<\/p>\n

In my notebook I jotted, this war has stolen his childhood.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Hammoudi<\/p>\n

Hammoudi dreams of being an engineer, but has been out of school for more than three years. \u201cI\u2019m forgetting how to read and write and it is very, very annoying,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In the eyes of an American mom, Hammoudi has an unimaginable responsibility for a 14-year-old.<\/p>\n

I ask him if he ever gets to be a kid.<\/p>\n

He looks me straight in the eye and says, \u201cI feel like an adult all of the time, because it is true. Because I am an adult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ensure this generation is not lost: Sign Mercy Corps\u2019 letter<\/a> asking President Obama to invest in peacebuilding, and add your name to ONE\u2019s #EducationForRefugees petition.<\/h2>\n
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe hardest thing right now is that I\u2019m not in school,\u201d Hammoudi says. \u201cI\u2019m forgetting how to read and write and it is very, very annoying.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"163035,162936,162761,162734,161617,161618","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[62],"contributor":[187],"one_content_audience":[],"one_content_type":[],"one_content_tone":[],"class_list":["post-161420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-refugees","contributor-mercy-corps"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFor this 14-year-old boy, life as a refugee meant growing up fast - 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