The land of this valley produces most of the food that is consumed by the local population. Hence, both men and women work in the fields using shovels, rakes and knives for land cultivation.
The work begins at dawn and ends at sunset. Usually this kind of work pays them around 20 thousand Lebanese pounds which is 13 dollars.
One such resident of the camp is a 27 year old refugee Muhammed Ibrahim who lives in a tent with his wife and child. The war in Syria forced his entire family to escape their home to save their lives.
Mohammad told Sputnik, “We have been here for 2.5 years. A year after the outbreak of war in Syria the conflict reached us so we had to leave and came here. I studied there before but now I cannot go back to college there so I transferred here to Zahlah School. Now I work here and feed my family. We registered through the UN, so we get some help.”
He earns about 500 thousand Lebanese pounds (about 330 US dollars) per month. He has continued studying at the university, despite his lack of money, books and other educational materials.
While another resident of the refugee camp, 10-year-old Mustafa, told Sputnik that he has a strong desire to learn and go to school, but the conditions have forced him to work all day.
“My name is Mustafa. I am 10 years old. I plant and grow onions and receive 8 thousand per shift. I work instead of studying. I work two shifts, each of which is for 4 hours.”
The young boy added indignantly, “I do not want to work. I want to study and go to school but instead I have to work.”
According to official figures of the UNHCR, the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon has reached 1 million and 100 thousand. This number continues to grow, although the allocation of funds by international organizations for humanitarian assistance has been reduced.
