There is something missing in the few yards Samer* will travel to join his friends in the nearby tent today. The encouraging voice of his brother will no more be there to cheer him up. Bilal died in a car crash last night.
The joy of reading is extended, and is visible on the eager faces of children. Eyes widen with every turn of a page. Concentration becomes more intense.
A school shelled, a house destroyed and a dream shattered. A childhood thrown into the anarchy of conflict and the future of a whole generation is taking a dangerous, unforeseeable twist.
Twelve months that transformed the lives of many youths have been crowned, as Save the Children marked the success of the latest of its youth-focussed projects with a closing ceremony held at Bourj Hammoud Centre in the Lebanese capital Beirut.