A new small group home for children with special needs in Syria

In 2015 SOS Children’s Villages Syria opened a new interim care centre in Qura Alasad in Damascus rural. The objective of this project was to provide alternative care and protection for children, victims of the war for a short period, and to work on their reunification with their families. During the last three years, SOS Children’s Villages was able to reunify many children with their families and move other children to SOS programmes that provide long-term alternative family care, like the SOS Children’s villages. However, 15 children had to stay in the centre, because they are differently-abled children that require special care.

To better help such vulnerable children, who suffer from trauma and may have been severely neglected or abused, SOS Children’s Villages opened a new small group home for children with special needs in October 2019. This unit aims at providing beneficiaries with a family-like environment, including specialized therapeutic activities, to contribute to their development.

The new small group home is a farmhouse that accommodates 15 children who are suffering from severe mental and psychological disabilities. There, the children benefit from the pedagogical farm and different therapy workshops. Moreover, they started going to a school and privet institutions specialized in providing educational curriculums for children with special needs.

It's been only a month since we moved to this farmhouse. Still, it's very easy to see how happy the children are in their new home

The new facility complies with the standards of environmental safety, staff ratios, and types of target group served. Children will have access to technically easier care, round-the-clock caregivers, and an accessible environment that may facilitate recreation and community access.