FROUN, LEBANON - In a corner of Froun’s public school, now being used as a shelter for displaced families, Soujoud Ramadan has created a small market selling snacks, drinks and basic necessities.
According to information gathered by MedPress on the ground, 16 displaced families are still living at the school after large parts of Froun were destroyed during Israeli bombardment.
Soujoud says her small shop is the only functioning market currently left in the village. A friend who operates a large supermarket in a nearby village supplies her with products and different brands, helping her keep the shelves stocked for families staying at the shelter and other residents.
Soujoud studies Laboratory Sciences at the Islamic University in Tyre and plans to return to university next month. The market, however, will remain open.
Her days extend far beyond the shop. In the mornings, she helps her mother with the family’s living space inside the school. Later in the day, she organises crafts and other activities for children living in the shelter.
Her aim, she says, is to create “a little happiness” and preserve some sense of ordinary life despite circumstances that are anything but ordinary.
That effort exists alongside continuing uncertainty and fear. Abbas Makki, the school’s principal, says families are particularly anxious at night, when explosions, demolitions and attacks can be heard in surrounding areas.
The school is preparing for students to return, while displaced families continue to live inside the building. Among classrooms, children’s decorations and spaces converted into temporary homes, Soujoud’s small market has become one of the few signs of everyday life remaining in Froun.
Photo: © José Manuel Izquierdo Mota / MedPress
