Take Joy for a Ride
The wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town! A colorful bus, decorated in orange accents, children’s drawings and painted white, whisks children to a fun day of activities, while their mothers attend playback theatre and gather information and resources during awareness sessions. Jina Al Dar’s bus arrives at the doorsteps of marginalized communities that have trouble accessing social services centers in Lebanon.
On a short field trip, a kazdoura, Joseph the bus driver puts music on, inviting the children to sing along. During this time in the day, the children are reminded of their joy and whimsical nature. Joseph is the son of Mr. Amin, the previous bus driver who passed away and handed over his moving nest to his son. Joseph carries the children to and from their activities with Fadi, who entertains them with recreational activities.
The people on the bus go up and down, all through the town! Fadi wears his inner child before meeting the kids. “I meet kids of various cultures and backgrounds, so I need to mimic their language in play. You need to move up and down with them.” Some sessions last an hour, other sessions an hour and a half. Every time Fadi attends a play session, regardless of his entertainment schedule, he acts as if its his first time in the presence of children. “Often children living in difficult socioeconomic circumstances are subjected to a lot of stress, so when I visit camps, I meet children who are ready to have fun, who are craving that kind of interactivity.” Other children take time to relax, some 13-year-olds are asked to grow up and become the men of the house, so Fadi would need to approach them differently.
The bus easily fills up, and although it promises a jolly time, parents have to get over their initial fear of sending their kids away. Syrian and Palestinian communities are often faced with racism outside of the areas that they populate in Lebanon. But with Jina Al Dar’s bus, they are guaranteed safety and enjoyment. The children are usually rascals, letting excitement wash over them. They fill the bus with giggles and chitchat.
One of the activities Fadi teaches kids is to create puppets out of paper bags, to express creatively and act their age. “We would ask them to create a character that they absolutely love or hate on these hand puppets.” This creates opportunities for self reflection, with material that is readily available, so that the kids can find new ways to have fun in their own environments. Other exercises are also sentimental, like creating kites from wooden sticks and letters to people the kids have not seen in a while. “One of the kids, aged 8, drew a swing from his old house in Syria, and dedicated a message expressing how much he missed it, because there is nothing like it.”
Children gradually learn to unwind and respond to spaces of stimulation and wonder. “A week ago, doctors came in to give vaccinations. They were wearing vests similar to the ones Abaad team wears during our recreational activities. One the kids, a girl, noticed the vest and started crying, as she confused us for doctors. So, we stopped the activities and spoke in general about what we do, we didn’t give the girl too much attention, as we continued our program. At a later point she came to us asking how she could tie a knot.”
Fadi, Joseph, the bus and paper bag puppets are all reminders that even if our environments can get hopeless, there are always pockets of joy. Jina Al Dar, with its quirkiness, brings lightheartedness to children, while the women of the household attend sessions to relieve what is heavy on the heart.
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