The Syrian Toy Smuggler

Playful learning in conflict-stricken environments

It’s been a great week as we’ve added so many wonderful new readers to our community. Welcome aboard!

This week, I was thinking a lot about children’s toys. I was particularly thinking about how toys and play are so integral to a child’s life across cultures and timelines.

In 2016, a global story broke out about Rami Adham, a Finnish-Syrian father who was smuggling toys into Syria to allow children some joy and happiness in the midst of a horrific war. Dubbed the ‘Aleppo Toy Smuggler’ he is said to have distributed thousands of toys to children over the years.

Read more about this story here - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37481761

This story, over the years, however, hasn’t aged very well. He was found guilty of defrauding the government and donors. - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46294379

While I’m not in a position to comment on the actual validity of the toy smuggler’s story, the idea that even kids in war-torn Syria have the right to toys tugged at my heartstrings.

It struck a chord with me back when I was teaching elementary school and found that in the most distressing of times, my students would often cling to their toys. For example, on the first day of kindergarten/pre-school, you can see kids being led into the school with their favorite toy stuck to them or the bribe of a shiny toy on the other side of the classroom door.

It has often made me wonder about the inner workings of a child’s mind when they’re surrounded by extreme violence and uncertainty. Can playful learning help toddlers and children better cope with this stress?

UNICEF/UNHCR data suggests that there are close to 30 million children displaced globally due to various kinds of conflicts.

“Despite clear evidence that early education interventions have immediate and longterm benefits for both children and their communities, less than 3% of all humanitarian aid goes to education in crisis contexts—and only a fraction of that goes towards early childhood education” https://www.sesameworkshop.org/sites/default/files/2020-12/lego-fact-sheet.pdf

Do check out - https://www.righttoplayusa.org/en/our-work/

What are some stories, research, or ideas you’ve stumbled upon that are focussed on playful learning and child-development?

Do you think that every child should have a Right to Play?

Until next week,

Prasanth