Children from Syrian families welcomed the arrival of Mufti of Moscow Ildar Alyautdinov, who heads a delegation of Russian Muslims, to a refugee camp in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday. According to a TASS correspondent, the Mufti opened a sports and playground on the territory of a local school near the town of Saidnail, which can be used by 450 students. The school itself is housed in temporary wagons set up as classrooms with heating and water.
"We have long dreamed of having a sports park and real soccer goals," said a young Syrian named Muhannad with excitement. - "We thank the Russian delegation for this long-awaited present," he said. In addition, he said, each schoolchild received a bag with writing material, toys and sweets.
The Mufti spoke in Arabic with the teachers working at the school, inquired about their concerns and the progress of their pupils, and planted an olive tree in the schoolyard.
At the refugee camp, Alyautdinov participated in the distribution of humanitarian aid collected at the initiative of the Religious Board of Muslims. "All our trips are charitable in nature," he said. - "This time, we gave boxes of food packages, enough for 25 days to feed one family".
Ahmed Khodr of the Lebanese Muslim Association Takaful stressed that support from the Russian community is important for Syrian refugees, given that their social situation is affected by the acute economic crisis in Lebanon. "Syrian families need food aid, and we thank the Russian side for this timely action," he said. - "We also appreciate the care shown for refugee children, their education and leisure activities."
On Wednesday, the Mufti of Moscow and his accompanying delegation will travel to Damascus. "We want to assess and understand on the spot what we, Russian Muslims, on behalf of our country can do there in terms of charitable projects," Alyautdinov stressed. Among possible projects, he mentioned the construction of a settlement for Syrian families in need of housing.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS