Sister Wardeh Kayrouz, right, returned to Lebanon after two decades in Jordan to give emotional support to refugees.
hopes to increase the number of field trips and summer camps. “The toll on the Lebanese is very great,” Sister Wardeh says.
B
ack in Naba’a, the Franciscan makes her rounds through the neighborhood and checks in on Souad, who is sitting in her two-room apartment nursing her 19-month-old son, Yohanna. Photographs of Hala and her other daughter, Lina, in their First Communion dresses, hang next to a picture of Christ crowned with thorns. The apartment has no windows. Air cannot circulate, which makes the child’s asthma worse. Souad takes him to Achkout and on the field trips, and this has improved his health. “I feel more at ease with myself and more relaxed when I have a chance to get out of the
house,” says Souad. “For a little bit, I forget my troubles.” Given all she has endured, she asks for little: to see her parents who are still in Syria, and “to live in peace with my family in the presence of Christ.” Her greatest anxiety is for Hala and Lina — that they will be able to continue their schooling and not be forced into prostitution by their father. Souad welcomes visits by Sister Wardeh and the other sisters, who have become role models for the girls. “This family touched me very much because of Souad’s struggles,” says Sister Wardeh. “My hope is that they can travel abroad to another country that can provide them with more social services, because Lebanon is overwhelmed with refugees.” Indeed, many Syrians who know there is no future for
them in countries such as Lebanon want to apply for immigration to Western nations, but those countries have remained largely closed. Mariam has some relatives who were able to emigrate from Syria to Sweden, and she hopes to join them. However, her relatives would have to sponsor her, and the process costs money. Nevertheless, she is determined to make the best of her time in Lebanon. That means finding a way to raise the $800 per year in the fees required to send her children to parochial school, to find work — in housekeeping and other odd jobs, if necessary — and to stay upbeat. She welcomes the chance to go on field trips with Sister Wardeh and to visit Achkout as much as she can. “Mariam has changed from the time we started the retreats,” says Sister Wardeh. “At first, she wouldn’t talk, but now she can express herself. She is able to accept her reality. She now has inner peace.” Cheerful and positive, she goes from church to church looking for donations of food. “Whenever I am lucky, I get food and if I have extra I give some to Souad,” says Mariam. “The Virgin Mary gives me strength to go from one place to another.” Amal Morcos is a freelance writer who covers the Middle East for humanitarian aid organizations. READ MORE OF AMAL MORCOS’S IMPRESSIONS OF LEBANON ON OUR BLOG, ONE-TO-ONE:
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cnewablog.org/web/ amalmorcos WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT SYRIAN REFUGEES: onemagazinehome.org/ web/syriavideo
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