Yasser and his mother Jumana describe how playing the buzuq—a string instrument similar to a lute—helps him cope with life in a camp for people internally displaced in northeast Syria.

Living as a refugee in Jordan, Raqia lost all sense of purpose as she found herself relying on others to meet her basic needs. But with emergency cash relief paired with counseling, Raqia soon traded hopelessness for independence.

Syrian mothers at Arbat camp in Iraq wouldn’t sit by as their daughters lost an education. Instead, they took action.

The IRC and Sesame Workshop have won $100 million in the MacArthur 100andChange competition to deliver the largest transformative early learning program for more than nine million refugee children in the Middle East.

Despite hardship and uncertainty, these resilient Syrian refugee mothers are raising confident daughters. Here are some of their stories.

Abu Raed and his wife, three sons and two daughters journeyed across the berm, a no man’s land between the Syrian and Jordanian borders, to reach the refugee camp. But conditions at Zaatari proved challenging for the family, especially when Abu Raed’s health started deteriorating.