They ask me about their future here and whether they will complete their studies and then marry and own homes here. I answer them that this matter is not in our hands, but in the hands of God, and that just as we came without prior planning, we can also return to Syria without prior planning”.
We want our children to have a better life than us, in terms of education, study and work.”
When I talk to my children about Syria, and tell them that we have family there, they ask me: What is Syria? I explain that a war broke out, and we came to the camp. I tell them that staying here in the camp is not our choice: when things calm down and the security situation improved, we will return to Syria.
Since then, he and his wife have had three more children, who know nothing about their home country.
Adil Toukan came to Za’atari camp in April 2013, from the city of al-Sanamayn in the Daraa governorate in southern Syria, along with his wife and two young children.
Ten-year-old Ghina was born in Syria and came with her family to Za’atari camp when she was only 6 months old.
Fourteen-year-old Muhammad came to the camp when he was only four. He says he remembers coming to the camp.
More than 20,000 births have been registered in Za’atari since it opened a decade ago. An entire generation of children has grown up there, and the camp has become their world.
Everyone came because they were forced to seek safety and security. There was suffering. Families took different routes. We spent more than 72 hours moving from one village to another until we reached the border and entered Jordan.
“I study in the third grade. I love school here. I like mathematics and English, but my favourite subject is Arabic. My dream is to become a policewoman when I grow up, because I want to serve my people.
I want to be a doctor in the future, because medicine is a beautiful profession and a good career.”
