QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Two months ago, Khawla had trouble dealing with her five-year-old son Maher, who was violent with his peers and was unable to properly communicate.
Khawla Wahid, 22, an IDP from Aleppo who lives in the town of the town of Terbespiye (al-Qahtaniyah), 20 km east of Qamishli, northeast Syria, and is a mother of three children, said, “I could not go anywhere because of my son Maher.”
Wahid added that her son was violent towards other children, and continually lashed out at them. She tried every possible way to change his behavior, but to no avail.
Two months ago, she brought her son Maher to the ‘Ahlan Semsem Early Childhood Development Center’.
She noticed “a great difference in his behavior before and after attending the center. Now he gets along well with his peers and plays with them.”
The same happened to Ahd Kazem, 30, from Qamishli, whose daughter suffered from speech delay.
After two years, Kazem, a mother of two children, noticed that her four-year-old daughter, Peli, could not speak. After seeing a doctor, he told her that her daughter needed to socialize with other children in order to learn to speak well.
Two months ago, Kazem brought her daughter to ‘Ahlan Semsem’, which was “difficult” for her child in the beginning.
The mother explained, “My daughter did not mingle with children. It was hard for her when she first went to the center. Now it has changed for the better, and she shows clear improvement.”
“She used to point at things without saying anything. Now she pronounces all the names. In our latest visit to the doctor, he told me that there is a 75 percent improvement with my daughter.”
Sa’da al-Idan, the supervisor of the center, told North Press that Ahlan Semsem was opened last year by the Woman’s Board of Jazira region (Hasakah governorate), affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), and has three branches, one in Terbespiye and two branches in Qamishli.
The Ahlan Semsem Center receives children between the ages of three and eight, in addition to children with disabilities of all kinds, including blindness, speech impediments, and mental illnesses.
“The war and displacement that occurred in the region have affected the mental state of the children,” she said, which is evident in some children when they come to the center.