ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Youssef is the youngest of five siblings. Aged 8, he is one of 30,000 students in Aleppo who receive a fresh meal at school each day from the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ (WFP). These meals are made  by more than 100 women ¨C many of whom run female-headed households ¨C taking part in a ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳project.

¡°I want to become a computer engineer,¡± he says ¨C a musculoskeletal condition he has means he cannot walk, though he is perfectly able to use a keyboard and play chess.  

He attends a school for children with disabilities that is supported by ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳through a project serving up meals to ensure they receive critical nutrition. 

ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳provides school snacks to 392,000 students across Syria each day, while each month it provides life-saving food to 5.5 million people.

Youssef¡¯s family, like many, used to be comfortably off ¨C but the ongoing crisis has changed things for the worse. His father, used to be a lawyer but today the daily wage he receives as a driver is barely enough to cover the most basic food needs for the family of six.  

The family live in an apartment provided to them by relatives. Aleppo¡¯s Ashrafieh neighbourhood, where they lived, suffered great destruction during the conflict that has ravaged the country for more than a decade.

Constant shelling forced them to leave and find shelter in Afrin, in rural Aleppo ¨C Youssef¡¯s mother, Ghazwa, was three months pregnant with him then. After a year, they moved to the governorate of Jableh where they stayed for six years.

When peace returned to Aleppo, so did they. 

Ghazwa, says that getting Youssef to school poses a huge challenge because their apartment block was designed, as so many buildings are, without access for people with disabilities in mind.

¡°We tried to apply for an electric wheelchair for him so that he can be independent  in commuting¡±, she says, ¡°but we don¡¯t know yet if we will get it or not.¡±

She adds: ¡°We have a normal wheelchair now, which is also cumbersome to carry up and down the staircase.¡±

While Youssef wants to become a computer engineer ¨C a dream his parents share ¨C his school also nourishes artistic talents. It hosts a theatre space that needs repair after being damaged during conflict. 

¡°I don't have a computer,¡± says Youssef. ¡°I would like to have one. I can access the internet and do many things.¡±

(Not least keep up with his favourite soccer teams, such as Manchester United, Juventus and Real Madrid.)

He adds: ¡°There is my brother¡¯s [desktop computer], he has one ¨C sometimes I play with it.¡±

Ghoufran Touma, a teacher at the Al-Amal Institute says: ¡°We might not be wishing that all of the kids here become doctors or engineers, but they might be able to become artists with other inclinations to poetry, theatre, acting.¡±

Syria¡¯s economic woes and spiralling inflation are taking their toll on families such as Youssef¡¯s. More Syrians than ever before are in the grip of hunger and poverty ¨C 12.4 million people do not know where their next meal will come from, a level of food insecurity higher than at any time during the decade-long conflict. 

¡°The expenses of living are making the biggest impact,¡± says Ghazwa. ¡°We cannot afford treatment for him anymore, we barely make simple living for food.¡±

She adds: ¡°He always says ¡®bring me this and that¡¯, so I comfort him saying, ¡®OK we will as soon as we can¡¯ or ¡®the school will bring you some of what you like to eat¡¯.¡± 

Ghazwa goes on: ¡°I have young sons who can work and support with the living expenses, but at the same time I want them to continue their studies ¡­ thank God we don¡¯t have to pay rent.

¡°We are originally a family that loves education. But with the crisis, education is becoming very challenging and costly.¡±

Conflict, mass population displacement, the impacts of the financial crisis in neighbouring Lebanon, the decline in the value of the Syrian pound and job losses due to COVID-19 have all contributed to Syria¡¯s economic downturn. 

In September, food prices in Syria reached a record high compared to just one year ago. The price of a basket of staple foods has more than doubled and is now 128 percent higher ¨C currently at US$75, it is beyond the reach of millions of families.

At school, Youssef looks forward to the daily sandwich he receives.

¡°He is always eager to eat the sandwich and worries when the distribution is a little late,¡± his mother says.

However,  the snack doesn¡¯t quite leave him full. ¡°I would like a banana with it,¡± he says.

ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳requires US$ 527.8 million by May 2022 to sustain its school feeding operations in Syria.

Learn more about WFP's work in Syria