Syrian children's images of pain and hope come to Kirkcaldy

Artwork by one of the young children from Syria.

The 15 drawings, all done by children aged between six and 16 years old, have already been seen in Dunfermline, Glenrothes and Lochgelly, as well as elsewhere in the UK.

Now it is the turn of people in Kirkcaldy to see them.

The two people behind the exhibition are a 28-year old Syrian student living in the UK, Baraa Ehssan Kouja, and Rawda Abdel Kafi Mazloum, a mother of four from the Syrian city of Homs, now living in a refugee camp in Eastern Lebanon.

Baraa said: “This is an opportunity for ordinary Syrians to tell their stories through art, and for ordinary Fifers to develop a fuller understanding of what Syrian refugees are facing.”

“There is a lost generation of Syrian children growing up in refugee camps in the Middle East and in Syria itself, children losing out on education, on their roots, on the basic human right to grow up in peace and safety.

“Syrian kids, like kids in Kirkcaldy, need to laugh, to draw, to play to learn.”

The children who have created the drawings are all living in four small refugee camps near the Lebanese town of Chtaura in the Bekaa valley.

Lebanon, a country seven times the size of Fife, has accepted over 1.8 million refugees from Syria, more than any other country in the world.

In the four camps where Rawda works, around 1100 people live in 149 tents, among them 270 children.

Some of the works reflect the trauma that the young people have experienced, while others are more hopeful and optimistic.

Alongside each drawing, as well as the title, a photo and name of the artist, is a brief statement of that child’s dream.

The exhibition is on display at Fife Migrants Forum’s office in The Postings until the end of April.

To find out more about the exhibition, visit the website www.fromsyriawithlove.com/from-syria-with-love-art-exhibition/.