World Street Children Day

“Sons of the Sun” in Homs

 Homs, (ST)- On the occasion of world Street Children Day, the city of Homs, like other Syrian provinces, has witnessed on July 1 a very special event that began three years ago.

The Monastery of the Savior in the city of Homs hosted the Festival,  The event is held for the third year successively to address the issue of street children. This event is considered an invitation to make this issue a priority which must be considered and propose effective solutions to end this phenomenon.

Sons of the Sun 3 was organized by Saiyar Foundation with Afkar Consulting and Marketing Services. The Ministries of Labor and Social Affairs,  Culture and Information, and under the auspices of the Syrian Commission for Family and Population Affairs have exerted efforts to make this event a success.

Activities  took place in 12 public places in 3 gardens in Damascus, in Salmiya, Musayaf, Homs, Hama, Sweida, Tartous, Lattakia, Aleppo and Jableh, in conjunction with parallel events in neighboring countries to focus on the danger of this phenomenon, which is increasing in conflict-affected and fragile countries.

Lama Al Nahhas, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sayyar Foundation, said: “Through this event, we address the community to this category of children who do not enjoy family care and suffer social problems.

It is an invitation to all government and non-government parties to cooperate in dealing with this important issue so as to reintegrate them in the  educational process and provide them with proper tools to lead the lives they deserve. We also stress the necessity of establishing national and civic centers to  develop  specialized education programs and community policies that contribute to reducing this phenomenon and achieve our goal of a brighter future”.

Ghaith Obaidi,  the Exhibition Coordinator, said :” Various activities are associated with the celebration, such as: art exhibitions, which last for several days, and display  hand – made products   by the children themselves and volunteers who work with them in different areas and in the halls of cultural centers spread in the Syrian  provinces. There are also awareness campaigns launched  by via Saiyar website on the  social media.

The central theme of this year’s event is associated with “Liberate Your Self”  campaign that we are launching to raise awareness about the risk of drug spread among children and adolescents.

 Our event was filled with recreational activities for children, volunteers, visitors, games, various artistic shows, competitions and gifts.

It is worth noting that Saiyar is a volunteer project hosted by the Saiyar Foundation and the Syrian Commission for Family and Population Affairs. It is supported by the Ministries of Labor and Social Affairs and Culture The project was founded five years ago to care about street homeless children by carrying out interactive educational and awareness activities call on all concerned parties to work for these children through drawing up  well studied policies to improve their life.

By: Amal Farhat – Homs