Zaatari Camp, Jordan

Zaatari once held more than 100,000 people, one of the largest refugee camps in the world. That number has started to fall as families return home to Syria, but tens of thousands remain, and a generation of children is still growing up inside the camp. Some were born there and have known no other home.

This is where our work sits now. We run year-round photography and digital literacy classes in Zaatari, in partnership with Questscope, for students aged 13 to 20. They are taught by former Lens on Life students, young Syrians who came up through the program and now teach the group coming up behind them.
It started smaller. In 2018 we ran a single week-long workshop for thirty young people, then opened the school with Questscope in 2019. What began as a one-week introduction is now a daily program. Hundreds have passed through the program to date.
Watch the short film below to learn more about the program.