ARSAL, Lebanon — In a former classroom in Arsal, Sekra al-Ahmad, 60, gently grips the forearm of her grandson. With her other hand she gently applies a lotion to a shallow wound near the child’s elbow, the result of government shelling that claimed the life one of Ahmad’s other grandchildren in Qusair. As lotion meets flesh he begins to resist. But Ahmad tuts away the boy’s protests and continues with the task at hand.
Three other families congregate alongside Ahmad’s in the classroom, part of a disused school complex leased by a local sheikh to cater to the growing influx of Syrian refugees into the area. The classroom now serves as an all-purpose salon, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. Others sleep out in the courtyard in tents.
