Syria/Lebanon – Franciscan Care Center

Since 2018, the Franciscan Care Center has been active in Aleppo - a psychological rehabilitation center for children who would otherwise never have been able to build a future free from abuse and brutality.

The situation facing the youngest segments of the population is particularly alarming in Aleppo, the epicenter of the war between 2014 and 2016. The Center supports thousands of children, each of whom is personally followed with great care and attention, receiving the support they need from a medical and psychological team funded by the project.

At the Center - operating within some of the Terra Santa College premises and in outdoor spaces renovated during 2023 - courses in sports, art, music, and English and French are offered, alongside psychological rehabilitation programs such as art therapy and music therapy, with the goal of building a healthy and positive environment around the children. To support physical rehabilitation as well, this year we invested in developing suitable outdoor spaces: two football pitches and a basketball court, covered courts, a swimming pool, and a large open area dedicated to activities for the youngest children.

700 children are assisted here; 270 are enrolled in the Terra Santa Football Academy. The FCC also served as a key reference point during the emergency following the earthquake: 350 people received food aid, and 5,000 were housed during February and March 2023.

The Franciscan Care Center Beyond Its Main Site

East Aleppo

In collaboration with the local Mufti and Mukhtar, we have opened three reception centers for children - many of whom are orphans and many with disabilities — living in the most deprived and degraded areas. Many of them are forced to leave school very early, around the age of nine. In addition to offering psychological support and rehabilitative therapies for children with physical and intellectual disabilities, the Center works to ensure academic catch-up to promote literacy and, therefore, the empowerment of the youngest. Mothers and women of Aleppo also receive the Center's attention, supported both materially and psychologically through dedicated assistance programs. These three centers serve 4,000 children, of whom 681 have disabilities, and provide assistance to 2,292 mothers and women from East Aleppo.

Damascus

In Damascus, a music school has been established in unused premises belonging to the Custody of the Holy Land convent: Syrian children are offered courses in guitar, piano, violin, and drums. The center was founded in collaboration with a local pianist, director of the Center for Harmony in Music Education in Damascus. The Pro Terra Sancta Association covers running costs, contributing to the purchase of new musical instruments and funding a portion of teachers' salaries. 136 children are enrolled in this music school, and 8 local teachers work there.

Beirut

Since November 2021, the Franciscan Care Center has also been active in Lebanon, in Beirut, in the form of an art therapy center aimed at the psychological rehabilitation of Lebanese children. 120 people participate, and 8 local workers are involved in the center's activities.

Hama

In 2023, a new center was opened in Hama, Syria, at the complex of the Church of the Immaculate Virgin of the Syrian Catholics of Hama. The center provides support and assistance to 200 children.