On Wednesday morning, around 30 Palestinian and Syrian refugee children from the Shatila camp assembled in CYC’s play space for an invigorating and relaxing lesson in Yoga.

The young participants demonstrated a tremendous focus, fully embracing the activity and following the instructions of their teacher with precision.

The session emphasized practices for relaxing and relieving stress, including breathing techniques and meditation.

Given CYC’s interests in attending to the psycho-social needs of children and youth in the communities, in which it works, this program served an important purpose, beyond pure recreation.

At the end of the activity, the children thanked their instructor and expressed excitement for the next session the following week.

Midday on Friday, 32 people including CYC board members and affiliates,  gathered in CYC’s library to discuss the duties and programs of the organization in the past, present, and future.

The event featured a thorough evaluation of the last two years of CYC’s work, highlighting  all of its activities and contributions, with a candid discussion of what is lacking in its practices and what should be improved.

Following the evaluation, a conversation opened up among the members and youth in attendance about a range of topics from strengthening the bonds between CYC and its members and friends to upholding and promoting Child Rights, as spelled out in international treaties and conventions. The latter topic has become of particular importance in light of the urgent need to provide education, psycho-social assistance, and protection for the large number of young Syrian refugees, who have recently arrived in Palestinian camps in Lebanon.  Over the course of this dialogue, several recommendations were offered for projects and visions to be implemented by CYC.

The program then entailed the election of a new committee, to serve as CYC board members for the coming two years.

The meeting came to a close with a beautiful poem written and read aloud by the acclaimed Lebanese poet Mariam Bajouk about Palestine. It was a wonderfully inspiring note to end on. When the official program was over, a lunch was held, in which members mingled and chatted in the positive atmosphere fostered by the meeting.