Familiar Hallways: Salma’s Story

“We fled with only what we could carry. But at least my children are here with me, somewhere they recognize. It’s uncomfortable, yes, but it’s a place where they feel a little less afraid” says Salma.

Bekaa Valley, Lebanon – Two weeks into the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, waves of intense airstrikes across the Beirut, Bekaa Valley and the South of Lebanon have forced over a million terrified men, women, and children to flee their homes under forced displacement orders. Among them is Salma, a mother of six, who fled from northern Bekaa, searching for a place where her children could feel safe.

“I have six children, four girls and two boys,” Salma says. “My girls study right here at this school. Every morning, we used to come from the northern Bekaa just to drop them off at the school gate. I never imagined that one day this same building would become our refuge.”

When forced displacement orders spread across northern Bekaa, Salma knew she had little time to act.

“I panicked, but I also knew I had to be ready,” she recalls. “The airstrikes hadn’t reached our area yet, but I could hear them getting closer. I gathered the children as quickly as I could. My family and I left in such a rush that at one point I truly believed we wouldn’t make it out in time. My only thought was we need somewhere familiar, somewhere the kids won’t feel completely lost.”

That place became the school her daughters once attended. Today, classrooms that once held desks and notebooks are now lined with mattresses and bags as hundreds of displaced families take shelter.

“When I heard the public school had opened its doors, I brought the children here immediately,” Salma explains. “For my daughters, this building is familiar, the hallways, the courtyard, even the smell of the classrooms. They don’t feel estranged here, and that small sense of familiarity gives me comfort.”

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But life inside the collective shelter is far from easy. Around 400 people are now staying in the school, and space is limited. Salma shares one classroom with two other families.

“That worries me,” she says. “If someone gets sick, it could spread so fast. With so many people living close together, everything is under pressure, the rooms, the bathrooms, everything. I try to keep my children clean, busy, entertained, but in a space like this it’s hard to give them any sense of normal life.”

Across Lebanon, public buildings, especially schools have been transformed into collective shelters to host families fleeing the hostilities. While these spaces offer immediate safety, they are often not equipped to support such large numbers of people. Overcrowding can strain sanitation facilities and increase health risks, particularly for children. Ensuring that these shelters receive adequate support, including hygiene awareness, healthcare access, and essential relief supplies, is critical to protecting the wellbeing of displaced families.

Medair teams are working in and around collective shelters to help meet these urgent needs. Earlier that day, one of Medair’s community health volunteers visited Salma’s classroom to provide a hygiene awareness session for families living in close quarters.

“It helped, especially with so many people living together,” Salma says.

Later, when she went looking for the mobile health unit, she encountered Medair’s team in the stairwell.

“I came out because I need to monitor my blood pressure and sugar levels,” she explains. “I need to be careful with what I eat, and right now that’s difficult. They guided me to the room where the doctors were doing consultations. That made me feel a bit safer, knowing that help is close.”

Through mobile health units and community outreach, Medair is providing primary healthcare consultations, health awareness sessions, and referrals for families staying in collective shelters across Lebanon. These services help address immediate health concerns while reducing risks associated with overcrowded living conditions.

“We fled with only what we could carry,” she says quietly. “But at least my children are here with me, somewhere they recognize. It’s uncomfortable, yes, but it’s a place where they feel a little less afraid. And for now, that is all I can ask for.”  

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Medair's work in Lebanon is possible with funding from the, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Swiss Development Cooperation through Interaction-CH, German Federal Foreign Office, the Department of State – United States, Monegasque Cooperation for Development, Métropole de Grenoble,  Agence de l'eau Rhône Méditerranée Corse,  and generous private donors. 

This content was produced with resources gathered by Medair field and headquarters staff. The views expressed herein are those solely of Medair and should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official opinion of any other organization.

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