A Lebanese charity operating near the border with Syria has been working to create a self-sustaining community in the refugee camp of Bar Ilyas, in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
Here, those with skills are given the resources to start their own small businesses – an opportunity that is rare for refugees, wherever they end up.
“The aide group offered to give me this shop and provide all the equipment for free,” Dhiya Subhi, a pastry chef, told Al Jazeera.
“I now earn a living for my family and get to employ another worker from the camp as well.”
While Subhi normally specialises in Arabic sweets, requests from fellow Syrians have encouraged him to experiment with pizza as well.
Mahmoud al-Khatib, a Syrian refugee who is a barber, told Al Jazeera that he is now able to feed his family of five on his own.
“Some days I make $3, sometimes $8 or more. Thank God, after this shop, I can afford to buy for my family’s needs. [The] situation in this camp is very, very good. We’ve got almost everything.”
Bar Ilyas holds over 1,500 people and has 450 portable cabins and a working sewage system.
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