"I have been working all my life, and through all the years I have never pictured myself attending one of these session. I used to always think this is women’s stuff only. But I am very happy that I decided to come with my family today. I feel like it’s a day out with the people I love and I’m enjoying it. I’m also meeting people who live near me.

 I have learned today how impactful our words can be on our children.” This is what one of the fathers expressed while attending a series of "Family Friendly Space" sessions held by the Syrian Society for Social Development in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at Shams Community Center in Aleppo

The series aimed to enhance the role of the family in the child's life and build his personality in a healthy manner, and clarified the importance of joint work between the parents of the children and the association to ensure the protection of the child from dangers and strengthened communication between the children of the same family.

The series also demonstrated the methods of nonviolent communication with practical application over a period of five weeks and concluded with an extended day full of purposeful recreational activities.

Some of the parents’ feedback after the sessions:

“This is the best type of activities I have ever attended, mainly because I got to be together with my entire family.”

“I appreciate the fact that you care about parents and children and what each of them is going through, and that you have decided to share the best methods of upbringing with us here today.”

“Since the very first session when we started on-ground application, I felt a noticeable difference with my kids, my wife and all my family members.”

“I anticipated the activities to be quite boring to be honest, since we’re men and have a different mood and style that we somehow can’t be pleased with what pleases women. But the activities were really nice and rich and it managed to change how we think and behave when it comes to approaching our kids.”

Because the society, with its various categories and segments, has a lot of capabilities and is able to overcome the difficulties it faces, the Child Protection Team carried out a lengthy meeting that included members of the Child Protection Club and Committee at Shams Community Center.

The objective of the meeting is to build individuals' capacities, enhance their role in developing and raise awareness of their communities, and propose future plans to work with the idea of sustainable development.

The meeting included a reminder of the importance of their role in empowering their communities, in addition to an open dialogue about future plans that will help activate their role more, and some games that help focus on the values of cooperation and listening.

Among the outputs that resulted in the meeting was a proposal to conduct awareness sessions in a house that the neighborhood mayor presents to the association free of charge to help the people of the area of Tarik Al Bab

This meeting took place in cooperation between the Syrian Society for Social Development and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The participants in the meeting expressed their enthusiasm to help the people of their

area in various ways. They said:

"Today was a new step in our journey to accomplish out big because of which we are all here gathered."

"I am very satisfied with the plans we proposed, and I will try to implement them because I am convinced they can be really useful."

"Such meetings are great as they really help us to remember how important our role is in our regions"

In order to familiarize adolescents with the safety rules in the event of a fire , networking was established with the Aleppo Fire Brigade to present a field trip for the adolescents of Shams Community Center on fires , their causes , risks and methods of correctly extinguishing them .

The session began with an informative paragraph about the causes of fires , how to prevent them and safe ways to put them out , in addition to explaining the tasks of the firefighter and the evolution of their role to meet the call in all environmental and natural disasters . Noting that you must call 112 in the event of a major fire .

This session was conducted in cooperation between the Syrian Society for Social Development and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees .

The adolescents expressed the huge benefit they have obtained from the session by saying:

“ I learned how to put out the fire in case it happens to us at home or with our neighbours . At the same time , I also learned what could harm me and how to prevent it . “

“ This the first time I have seen the fire engine and learned how to put out all kinds of fires “

“ The information we have obtained today is very rich and it will help us in the future and the days ahead to actually act right if we ever face a similar situation of a fire and be able to save lives , including our own "