In Pictures

Gallery|Humanitarian Crises

In Pictures: ‘When we garden, we feel happy’

Syrian refugees at Zaatari camp turn to gardening to make a difference.

Naji, 33, has been living with his wife and five children in Zaatari camp for 2 years. The family fled from their farm in Daraa after their village was heavily bombed. Naji dreams of returning to Syria and sitting in his garden. (***)After 6 months of being here, I made the garden so that we can start building just a bit of hope and happiness. I(***)m not very happy with it. But when I see a garden with amazing greenery and flowers, one just automatically smiles and becomes happy.(***)
By Rosie Thompson
Published On 27 Oct 2014

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In the midst of an expanse of dry land, thousands of Syrian refugees have been living in Zaatari Camp, Jordan, opened two years ago.

Some have turned to gardening to help them adapt to life in the camp and bring a bit of greenery to the desert landscape that has become their home.

Mohammad Abu Farah, who works at Save the Children youth centre in Zaatari Camp, is providing gardening and landscaping lessons to children in the camp as a form of informal education and psychosocial support.

“When the children arrived at the camp, they had just come from a violent war. Many of them were introverted and struggled in making friends. They were violent to one another,” Farah said. “After we started implementing gardening classes, the children learned to work in a team, and started to build friendships.”

“Gardening allowed them to make something with their hands, and gave them a sense of accomplishment. We have seen an incredible change in them.” 

Samar, 48, fled to Jordan with her husband and five children after two of her brothers-in-law were killed.

Zaatari camp has been home to her family for over two years. Prior to the war in Syria, Samar was a headmistress at a secondary school in Daraa and three of her daughters were attending university and studying engineering, architecture and physics.

They had a large house with a beautiful garden. Summers were spent cooking feasts with homegrown vegetables and sipping coffee under the shade of an olive tree.

“When we garden, we feel happy because there’s something to do, such as watering the plants. It just makes you feel like there is life. Where we’re from we’re used to the view of greenery, here there’s nothing, it’s a desert,” Samar said. “Even if we are to have little joys, they would make a great difference.”

Mohammad Abu Farah teaches the children gardening which, he says, has given them a sense of accomplishment. 
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Wardah, 24, fled the violence in Syria when her family home in Daraa was destroyed. She was one semester away from completing her bachelor(***)s degree in finance and economics. She dreams of returning to Syria when the war is over and completing her degree so that she can one day become an accountant. (***)I did a month(***)s long course of learning English in the camp, so I love to come here, listen to the fountain and peacefully sit and study. Education is everything to me.(***)
Mazen and his family have been living in Zaatari camp for over two years. He was a car mechanic in Syria, the family lived in a large house with a beautiful garden in Daraa. (***)I(***)ve been gardening ever since I was little. My dad used to love gardening and I learnt from him. I wanted to create a space that made me one step closer to home. Even the smell of air is different when there are plants around. Especially in this place where there is a lot of dust and heat, you need plants. Plants make it a bit cooler here.(***)
Abu Tarek and his family of five left Syria almost two years ago when their house was bombed. They have since been living in Zaatari Camp. In his old life, Abu Tarek was a manager of a telecom company, he now works as a security adviser for Save the Children in the camp. (***)In the end, water is life, which is why the fountain means a lot to me. These decorations also give you some kind of emotional reassurance. I asked my mother who was coming here from Syria to bring flowers because no one was selling flowers here. So these flowers you see right here are from back home. It was my son Tariq(***)s idea to use the argileh for the fountain.(***) 
Ali, 42, and his wife and five children fled from their home in Daraa a year and eight months ago. A fisherman back in Syria, Ali is currently unemployed in the camp and struggles with the concept of not being able to do more for his family. (***)My life was good in Syria. Over there, life has meaning. Here, life is like death. I created the garden about three months ago, for people to sit around and to look at. Is there anybody on this earth that doesn(***)t like flowers?(***)
Mamoun, 54, and his wife fled to Jordan after his sister and her children were killed by a bomb. The couple now live with their newly married son and daughter-in-law in Zaatari Camp. After spending long, slow days unemployed in the camp Mamoun decided to create a garden. (***)I had a wonderful garden back in Syria. It was beautiful and had everything in it. I made it into plots of squares, with specific designs, and had one flower that has five different looks. White, pink, yellow, maroon, and another color that I(***)ve forgotten. My wife and I used to work on the garden together. I made this one, because I(***)m staying here and doing nothing, so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. I worked very hard on it.(***)
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Wardah(***)s niece plays with the family(***)s ducks.
Adham, 41, was a manager of an Italian restaurant in Kuwait. When the war broke out, fearing for his wife and four children who lived in Daraa, Adham returned to Syria. Adham was shot three times, leading him and his family to flee to Jordan. They have been living in Zaatari camp for a year and six months. (***)I miss my old life a lot, I cannot forget it. Every time we think about it a little bit, we cry. Plants are for the soul. When you(***)re sitting in the garden, you feel like there are beings around you, and when plants bloom from a ground where there are no plants you feel like you(***)ve done something. When we see the green colors, we remember Syria. Wherever you look, you see trees and rivers and general greenery in Syria.(***)
(***)I cannot look to the future now, because we don(***)t know what will happen tomorrow. Now when people ask me where I’m from, I don(***)t say Syria, I say from Zaatari. I forgot my own country. I am now a Zaatari man. I don(***)t think only I will stay here for a long time, it will also be my kids and their kids, and so on. Only God knows when we(***)ll go back,(***) Adham said.
Abu Qasem and his family fled from Syria after their farm was shelled and his daughters and son were injured. They have been living in Zaatari camp for over a year. (***)When I(***)m gardening I(***)m keeping myself occupied so that I don(***)t get to feel frustrated or angry, your psychology changes when you work with plants. This garden is an expression of love between one another, green is good. The smell is wonderful; it(***)s also good because it captures the dust in this desert. It locks up the heat and makes this place a bit cooler and humid.(***)
Adel came to Zaatari just over a year ago with his wife and daughter after their home in Daraa was destroyed. (***)My garden back in Syria was beautiful. I used a specific type of decorative white stone and planted some flowers that made the space wonderful. Here I don(***)t have anything to do, I am unemployed. This is what made me start gardening here. I think that if one puts his mind into something they can do it. Green space is God-given beauty, it calms the soul and the nerves. The situation is bad and everyone is worn out, so this gives us some serenity and at the same time it(***)s a nice space to sit and enjoy - it(***)s a change of scenery. This garden gives me hope.(***)
Samar, 48, fled to Jordan with her husband and five children after two of her brothers-in-law were killed. Prior to the war in Syria, Samar, was headmistress at a secondary school in Daraa. (***)I like teaching children, I haven(***)t changed in that aspect, but my psychological wellbeing has changed because my children(***)s education was halted. It saddens me very much; I would have loved to see them finish their education. We were ecstatic when they graduated from high school and got amazing grades, it gave us hope that we would see them graduate from university as well, but this hope has been crushed.(***)