While some members of the Alalusi Foundation team were sharing knowledge on dental hygiene and relaxation techniques for Syrian refugee widows, Maggie Conroy and Suha Abbasi were working with kids and adults to express themselves therapeutically with art. Over the course of time spent in Lebanon and Amman, they affected the lives of over 100 children and adults as they brought much needed therapy through art to various centers.
Homs League Abroad - At the Amman home, equipped with ample paints, pipe cleaners, beads, collage materials, markers, gel pens and chalk, Maggie and Suha assisted the kids, some of whom were orphaned by the war, to tap into their deep creativity to make jewelry, hats, bowls and drawings. From the moment when the supplies brought over from the US were laid out for the participants, the children excitedly chose their desired media and, some frantically and others with great precision, went to the playful work of creating art.
I met Suaad, a 14-year old girl, who has lost all her family and is living on her own at the center. She is very interested in art and wanted to share her drawings with us to put into our art shows. I was able to work with her individually for a time. Later, I gave her some colored pencils, a sharpener, and some paper so she can continue to use art as a way to express herself.
At the HLA homes in Tripoli Lebanon, kids were given sidewalk chalk and unleashed on the cement play yard to draw, eliciting much excitement, smiles and gratitude to Dr. Mazen, General Director of the HLA chain of Syrian refugee homes, and Dr. Hesham. By the end of the time, there was hardly a spot untouched by their now dusty hands (and clothes).

A girl named Noor asked how to represent “Silent Spring” and then drew leafless trees and placed the sun in the middle of the page. This led to a discussion with other teen girls, Zohoor, Aisha, and another girl named Noor, and an impromptu “sharing session” and subsequent trip outside the center the next day.
On our final evening in Lebanon, we were blessed with a being present for a concert of dance, singing and theater put on the by the children who live in the three centers. In the entry hall to the auditorium, children's drawings from the previous days were hung on the walls so that adults and children, residents and visitors alike could view and enjoy. Ensuring that these fun-filled events were not isolated experiences, the Alalusi Foundation, through your donations, purchased additional art supplies for each of the centers. Souriyat Across Borders - A group of wheelchair bound men, disabled by the war in their native Syria, have formed a crafts




This painting was done by a boy named Sammy living in Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. It was created on canvas salvaged from camp tents. Sammy lost both legs during the Syrian Civil War and is a part of an art group organized by artists also being housed at Zaatari. He wrote the following on the back of the artwork:

Mother Home
I miss my mother home.
I drew this while living in camp and
Wish I could go home
When asked why he loves to draw birds he replied, “A bird can go anywhere and does not need any help.”
This is one of the paintings being shown May 15th at the Associate in Hearing Art Show in Philadelphia.