There are 62 million children out of school across the world—children without access to the education and training they need to improve their lives. That number is only increasing as millions of refugees are being forced to return to Afghanistan from Pakistan.

On Feb. 20, nearly 100 civilians were killed by attacks in Eastern Ghouta—making it one of the deadliest days of the Syria conflict. Hear from a Syrian paramedic.

After some of the bloodiest fighting in more than seven years of civil war in Syria—including a suspected chemical attack in the town of Douma—the enclave of Eastern Ghouta is under the control of the Syrian government.

“When you start doing anything, at first it’s going to be frightening,” Bothina Matar reassures the refugee women she works with in Dallas. She encourages them to strive for a better future—their children’s future—without forgetting their past. “I am trying my best,” Bothina tells them, “and succeeding somehow.”

From the carnage in Eastern Ghouta to the hundreds of thousands uprooted in Idlib, the war in Syria has taken a catastrophic human toll as we mark its seventh year.

Read about an ordinary day for an extraordinary woman living in one of the world’s largest refugee camps.

Meet Firas, 22, who worked with Refugee.Info, a digital service created by the International Rescue Committee in partnership with Google, Microsoft and Trip Advisor. The online and mobile platform provides crucial information to refugees seeking asylum from war and persecution.