June 27th was my very first visit at the refugee camp by recommendation of a lady who had her afternoon playgroup at camp for almost 10 years. I entered the camp with almost no information about the facility and what I should expect. To my surprise children were really interested in me as we walked the yard to get to the classroom/playroom. Some were already asking questions about me and some were looking in my bag. One of the girls was eager to know if we are going to make slime!
To get to know the children better I went in with coloured paper, stickers, stamps and paint and asked children to write their names and decorate the sheet as they wish. I also asked the older children to write the younger children names for me in which they were extremely helpful. Children were present as young as 6 months to about 12 years old.
We played with art material as toys flew in the air, watercolour cups toppled with children jumping on the table, temper tantrums happening over a piece of lego and the door constantly closing and opening again with loud tumps. The whole experience felt so surreal! Nothing seemed to be in place and there were no rules. It felt like another world, an unknown one… but one thing was certain! I’ll be back next week!
