A new children’s space for play and creativity at the Azadî Community Garden

Photos and videos by Youssef Ibrahem.

Over the last six months, a corner of the Azadî Community Garden in Domiz 1 camp, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, has been created especially for children. Families who visit the garden together now have a dedicated space for their youngest members, with games, a slide and small low tables where children sit on rugs to draw and colour in.

The area builds on a modest library of books that the garden has offered for several years and adds a new strand to our work with children at Azadî, helping them to develop skills such as drawing and creative expression, alongside the gardening activities already on offer. It also gives older children a reason to spend more time in the garden itself, learning the basics of growing and caring for plants alongside their families.

The idea began close to home. Aveen Ibrahem, our operations manager in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, explains:

“When my daughter Rosemary was born, I received some lovely toys for her, but she was too young for them at the time. So I thought I would add a few more toys and art supplies for the children who come to the Azadî garden with their families, who can’t stay home alone because they’re so young. This way, mothers can rest assured knowing they’re close by and safe when they are tending to produce in their family’s growing bed. The garden has always been a place where families feel at home and I wanted the children to really feel this too, not just their parents.”

Children have taken to the space quickly and the laughter and voices are lovely to hear. Some play catch with a ball, while younger visitors head straight for the slide. Around the low tables, it’s often much quieter where the children can be found concentrating on their drawing and colouring in. For others, its wonderful to see how delighted they are with the produce they have picked themselves, from bunches of carrots to bowls of tayberries. Elsewhere in the garden, children help feed the rabbits, gather in tents to play and help their families tend to their assigned growing bed.

This work sits alongside our broader programme of activities for children across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Syria. Read more about our recent work with children:

• Lemon Tree Trust gifts plants to children with special educational needs and disabilities in Gawilan camp
• School outreach in Gawilan camp
• Lemon Tree Trust and DoLSA bring environmental workshops to children in Gawilan camp 
• Gardening project with the Êriș Centre in Qamishli, Syria 

Support our work with children and families

This new space for children is part of our broader mission to support wellbeing, community and food security for families living in refugee and IDP (internally displaced people) camps. If you would like to help us continue this work, please consider making a donation.

Our Tree & Plant Appeal is also running until 31 August, with all donations currently matched, so your gift goes twice as far.