1 min read
Hamza, a 10-year-old Palestinian boy who had spent his whole life in the overcrowded Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, used to be withdrawn and shy. He rarely spoke and avoided interacting with other children. When he started school aged six, he had never held a pencil or opened a book.
But then he began taking part in the Enhancing Quality and Inclusive Education (EQIE) programme, run by the global NGO Right To Play. Alongside receiving speech therapy, he took part in group activities, which helped him start expressing his emotions through drawing, storytelling and roleplay. His favourite game was “guess the emotion”, where one child would act out a feeling and the others had to guess it.
His confidence grew. One year later, he could write his own name, recognise letters and had made friends. After four years, he was a thriving, joyful child who proactively took part in class. He told his teacher his dream was to become a dentist.
