Feature: Kids in Damascus seek sanctuary in drawing

DAMASCUS (Xinhua) - Unlike the crisis-afflicted kids who were displaced to seek shelter in camps, some children in the Syrian capital of Damascus tried to escape the tense situation in their surroundings by drawing.

Under the title "My Homeland, My Love," a drawing forum opened in the old Citadel of Damascus for Syrian kids to express their special views through a number of simple but delicate drawings.

The forum, organized by the General Commission for Children Publications in cooperation with the Technical Institute of Applied Arts, is the first of its kind in Syria.

"We are trying through these workshops to preserve what has left of the children' mental health... I don't want the kid to stroll down the streets hearing about the incidents here and there. .. I want the kid to walk down the streets talking about the beautiful trees and rivers to live for tomorrow, because children are tomorrow," Tarek Sawah, director of the Higher Institute of Applied Arts, told Xinhua.

A 10-year-old girl named Sedra Hayek who drew the Syrian flag carried by two birds, told Xinhua that "after I finished my exams, I came here to draw and to forget about what is going on in Syria and to express myself through painting."

Her friend, Batoul Yazgi, a 9-year-old girl, said "I have finished school and I came here to draw and to have fun and participate in the children activities here."

As kids in the capital were still having activities to get busy with, other kids in hotspots and those who fled the crisis out of the country have more to worry.

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund ( UNICEF) said Friday that soaring summer temperatures, overcrowding and worsening hygiene are the latest threats facing some 4 million children affected by the ongoing conflict in Syria.

UNICEF warned that without enough safe water and sanitation, the children in Syria and those living as refugees around the region are more likely to fall sick with diarrhoea and other diseases .

Of the more than 4.25 million displaced Syrians, many live in overcrowded shelters with insufficient access to toilets and showers. Sewage systems are damaged or overwhelmed by the increase in displaced populations.

UNICEF said it needed more than 200 million U.S. dollars for water, sanitation and hygiene programmers in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq until the end of the year. However, 124-million- dollar remains short of this target.