Lemon trees, rosemary shrubs, and mint plants: In Shatila Refugee Camp, a blossoming garden helps children heal amid hardship

Fig trees and bougainvilleas are a common sight in Lebanon, but among the decayed buildings of Shatila, they stand out.

Khatar, a 9-year-old Syrian girl, stands in the unique garden that the Palestinian camp is known for.

She comes every day because she likes to “smell the flowers.” Behind her stands a jasmine tree. Rosemary and mint are also in sight, alongside a lemon tree.

Usually, growing such a garden in Lebanon takes just a few months of gardening. However, in Shatila, it took architect Lilia Benbelaïd six years of hard work to bring this garden to life.

This French-Algerian woman first noticed a few empty square meters — a rarity in Shatila — in 2019. As she shared with The New Arab, “I am an architect; I view every problem through the lens of space, needs, and habits.”

Adding to this, Lilia notes that the space, located on the premises of the Children and Youth Center, provides various activities for around 100 to 150 children from the camp.

Operating since 1997, the centre offers recreational activities, remedial classes for Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese children, as well as 'protection classes' for children at risk of working on the streets.

A community home

As for the Shatila refugee camp itself, it was established in 1949 following the Nakba in Palestine the previous year. Over time, it has become home to impoverished communities of Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians, and Ethiopians.

According to a study conducted by the French Institute for the Near East (Ifpo) and the French Development Agency (AFD), in 2024, “family income levels range from a minimum of $150 per month to an exceptional figure of $900 per month,” with 99% of families spending more than they earn just to meet their daily needs.

In this challenging context, Lilia set out to clean up the courtyard.

“I wanted to see if the children would take an interest in the garden,” she says.

Fast forward to 2021, and they made it happen. That year, after receiving a $56,000 grant from the Fondation de France, the architect transformed the space into a proper garden by planting 20 trees.

“Shatila does not have any garden,” states Abu Mojahed.

Born in 1948 in Alma, a Palestinian village located a few kilometres south of the current line of demarcation between Israel and Lebanon, Abu Mojahed has been the director of the Children and Youth Center since its inception.

He adds that the centre used to take children on day trips outside the camp, but the severe financial crisis that began in 2019 has affected their ability to do so.

By around 4 pm, a few children start arriving. Soon, it is time to water the plants.

“The trees need water to grow,” explains Khatar, who wears a pink jumper, noting that her favorite plant used to be the watermelon that grew in one corner of the garden but has since died.

Giving children a breather 

Maintaining the garden has proven far from easy over the last six years; the struggles of nature reflect those faced by the camp’s inhabitants.

Shatila is not connected to municipal water services and relies entirely on artesian wells as its primary water source, according to the Ifpo and AFD study.

Due to seawater intrusion into the groundwater, the water’s salinity “reaches up to 25,000 mg, while in other parts of Lebanon it typically registers around 5,000 mg” — far exceeding the World Health Organization’s recommended cap of 1,000 mg. Using this water to irrigate the garden’s plants would kill them.

Like the camp’s inhabitants, Lilia depends on the UNRWA water fountains for access to fresh water. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is responsible for infrastructure, healthcare services, and education in Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

However, these fountains do not run every day. To tackle water scarcity, the Children and Youth Center installed a tank to collect rainwater.

Still, Lilia will likely have to buy water from private vendors to water the garden during the summer months.

“The next step is to build an irrigation system for the garden. But for now, I have the children water the plants; I try to give them responsibilities,” she says.

Next to her sits Karim, a shy 7-year-old who fiddles with a lighter.

Lilia takes him for a stroll around the garden. Together, they smell the leaves of a lemon tree and rosemary.

“It smells like herbal tea!” Karim exclaims.

“The garden gives the children a breather and an opportunity to have their hands in the soil,” Lilia adds.

The soil in the garden was also problematic: a mixture of sand and rubbish prevented the trees from growing properly. Lilia had to bring in fresh soil several times.

“Thankfully, someone brought us some manure that we’ll be able to use in a few months,” she says, as a rat scurries past.

The garden faces an additional challenge: rubbish thrown from nearby balconies lands in the garden, risking damage to the branches.

“Unfortunately, we had to come up with the idea of building this metal structure to prevent further damage,” Lilia explains.

According to Lilia, the protective net runs over the garden, stretching all the way to the entrance of the centre and to a smaller space where a few trees have been planted.

On that day, however, a coffee paper cup fell to the ground. Later, a bullet casing dropped through the metal structure after an automatic rifle was fired nearby.

“Last week, I cleaned the garden entirely with Lilia; it was very dirty,” says Jad, a Lebanese 11-year-old who visits the garden regularly.

He finds the garden “pretty” and enthusiastically helps the young architect with watering.

Evolving spaces

As Lilia puts it, this shared space is encouraging new behaviours.

“I find that the children are generally more responsible towards the trees: there are fewer broken plants or branches. I have noticed progress over the last two years,” says Lilia.

She and Abu Mojahed have also witnessed much destructive behaviour from the children towards the garden.

“These children experience a lack of belonging. They are on the receiving end of neglect; they are not living a normal life,” Abu Mojahed explains.

Among the hundred children who regularly come to the garden, some belong to the fourth generation of Palestinian refugees. Meanwhile, the Syrian children have experienced displacement during the years of the Al-Assad regime or after its fall on 8 December 2024.

Jad moves back and forth between the garden and the courtyard just outside the Children and Youth Center, where a group of teenagers lounge on benches.

In her ongoing quest for more public spaces in the camp, Lilia was awarded a second grant of $45,000 by the Fondation de France last year to design robust urban furniture tailored to the camp’s inhabitants’ needs.

Benches and chairs that serve the double purpose of protecting the trees were eventually installed in the courtyard on Saturday 17 May, when the community commemorated the 77th anniversary of the Nakba.

“Before those benches, we had to sit on motorcycles!” the group of teenagers explain.

“The courtyard is more beautiful now."

Laure Delacloche is a French freelance journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon, She focuses on social issues, especially how crises impact women. Her work has appeared in French and international outlets and she is a member of Solvo, a solutions-oriented collective of journalists

Follow her on X: @LaureDelacloche