“ caring about Syria’s children is a very important issue that necessitates collective efforts by the family, the society and the government as Syria’s children are the future generation who will take part effectively in rebuilding Syria , the land of peace , culture and civilization” Malak Yassin,  Head of the child’s Culture Directorate at the Ministry of Culture said in a statement to the Syriatimes e-newspaper on the sideline of the  “childhood and innovation “ festivity held recently at Dar Al-Assad for Culture in Lattakia.

The event,  held by the Child Culture Directorate of the Culture Ministry , aimed to honor the children from Lattakia who had participated in the ministry’s annual artistic and culture competitions for the year 2020 which covered the art of painting and calligraphy, in addition to story , poetry and essay writing as well as photography.  Participants in the competitions were children aged 7-18 years representing all Syrian provinces.

Among the honored winners from Lattakia were children of martyrs as well as some children with special needs.

Miss . Yasssin clarified that the works of the winning children are printed and published within the ministry’s publications , adding that the children’s paintings are showcased in exhibitions to be held around the year.

On his part, Director of Culture in Lattakia Mr. Majd Sarem told Syriatimes that “ this festivity is of great importance to send out a strong message to the entire world  that Syria’s children are still creative , skillful and talented and are determined to overcome all the hardships they have faced during the long years of the severe crisis”

On the sideline of the cultural festivity an  art exhibition was held  by the Cultural Team for Building Life Skills in Lattakia  to showcase the works of the winning children.

Head of the team Mrs. Amal Tobal praised  in a statement to Syriatimes the cultural and educational establishments’ interest in supporting children’s talents to encourage them use their abilities fully and effectively with focus on children in the areas liberated from terrorism.

The cultural festivity was characterized by organizing  an  interactive workshop on wood mosaic artworks by the researcher and artist  Raouf Bittar who said “ Syria is the cradle of art, beauty and creativity . It is the duty of every  Syrian artist to  highlight and revive  his country's deep-rooted and distinguished heritage through art  and encourage  the young generations to preserve it”.

Syriatimes also interviewed a number of winning children to talk about their works and impression. .

From Lattakia  Adnan Alaa Darwish , who won the second prize in  Arabic calligraphy and the second position  in photography, said “ I chose verses by the famous Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani and wrote them in  the Kufic script  as it is a distinguished  and ancient calligraphy”. He indicated that the verses encourage the young generation to contribute to building their country in future.

Another winner  Myriam Basel Saleh  who won the first prize in writing stories   said “ my real suffering when my father was martyred in Aleppo motivated me  to take part in the competition as he always encouraged  me to develop my talents  in drawing and writing“.

 “I dedicate my success to  all martyrs ,  who sacrificed their souls to protect their homeland ,and promise them   to continue their march of struggle  through our  study” Mariam expressed . 

The nine-year Ayyoub Ghanem , who won the third prize in drawing , stressed that  drawing is freedom and he enjoys drawing characters of cartoons films and uses bright colors to express happiness and hope.

Moreover, the special needs of some children were not a barrier preventing them from participating in the contests , presenting their talents and achieving high positions.

The children who won expressed determination to have achievements at the world level starting from their sense of responsibility to serve their homeland , stressing that honoring them in their country Syria is an incentive to present the best.

Interviewed by : Rawaa Ghanam

Photos by : Rawaa Ghanam