Skip To Content

Advertisement

BuzzFeed News

Trending

13 Heartwarming Pictures Of Syrian Children Learning Taekwondo

Korean trainers are teaching taekwondo to children at Zaatari refugee camp near Mafraw, Jordan. "Taekwondo is amazing," says one kid.

Ali Vingiano BuzzFeed Motion Pictures Staff

Children at the world's second largest refugee camp in Jordan are learning taekwondo. Their trainers say it inspires discipline and self-respect in those traumatized by war in their home country.

AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky

Charles Lee, a Korean taekwondo master, founded the program last month with the aid of U.N. relief agencies.

AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky

"I have seen a lot of anger inside the hearts of the kids here," said Lee, "I want them to be peaceful and to help their neighbors."

AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky

Advertisement

One million Syrian refugees are now children. Only about a sixth of the 65,000 children at the Zaatari refugee camp attend the U.N.-run schools.

UNHCR / O. Laban-Mattei

The children "no longer have any system in their life," said Mohamed Rashid, one of the Syrian taekwondo coaches.

AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky

The most popular game is "throwing stones at each other" to imitate the rebels fighting Assad's troops.

UNHCR / O. Laban-Mattei

Advertisement

But with taekwondo, the children can focus their energy positively.

AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky

"We've found an exercise routine which can change children. Maybe even more than schools, because they actually enjoy it," says Rashid.

AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky

Taekwondo "is teaching us good manners, while making us stronger" said Ibrahim al-Hamidi, a 13-year-old Syrian refugee participating in the training.

AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky

Advertisement

"It's good for our bodies and muscles and it teaches how to defend ourselves," he said.

AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky

As of now, only boys learn taekwondo, but the AP reports that girls will be included at a later stage.

AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky

Coach Rashid said he already sees a positive effect. "In one month, their bodies have changed a lot. And they are also more in control of their minds."

AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky

Advertisement

"Taekwondo is amazing," said student Ali Badran, 13, from Daraa. "Once I go back to Syria, I want to start teaching Syrian students."

AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky

Advertisement

Comments
Unable to load comments. Try reloading this page or viewing the full site. Pop out
Show more Expand

BuzzFeed - Do Not Sell or Share My Data

We, and our partners, use technologies to process personal information, including IP addresses, pseudonymous identifiers associated with cookies, and in some cases mobile ad IDs. This information is processed to personalize content based on your interests, run and optimize marketing campaigns, measure the performance of ads and content, and derive insights about the audiences who engage with ads and content. This data is an integral part of how we operate our site, make revenue to support our staff, and generate relevant content for our audience. You can learn more about our data collection and use practices in our Privacy Policy.

If you wish to request that your personal information is not shared with third parties, please click on the below opt out button. Please note that after your opt out request is processed, we may still collect your information in order to operate our site.

We value your privacy

We and our partners use technology such as cookies on our site to personalize content and ads, provide social media features, and analyze our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology across the web. You can change your mind and change your consent choices at anytime by returning to this site.

BuzzFeed

Information storage and access

The storage of information, or access to information that is already stored, on your device such as advertising identifiers, device identifiers, cookies, and similar technologies.

Personalisation

The collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as on other websites or apps, over time. Typically, the content of the site or app is used to make inferences about your interests, which inform future selection of advertising and/or content.

Ad selection, delivery, reporting

The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver advertisements for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such advertisements. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select ads, processing data about what advertisements were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action related to the advertisement, including for example clicking an ad or making a purchase. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.

Content selection, delivery, reporting

The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver content for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such content. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select content, processing data about what content was shown, how often or how long it was shown, when and where it was shown, and whether the you took any action related to the content, including for example clicking on content. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.

Third-party vendors

Information storage and access

The storage of information, or access to information that is already stored, on your device such as advertising identifiers, device identifiers, cookies, and similar technologies.

View Companies Hide Companies

Company

  • Lotame Solutions, Inc.
  • OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates
  • The Rubicon Project, Limited
  • Index Exchange, Inc.
  • comScore, Inc.
  • DoubleVerify Inc.​
  • LiveRamp, Inc.
  • Taboola Europe Limited
  • PubMatic, Inc.
  • Outbrain UK Ltd
  • EMX Digital LLC
  • Nielsen Marketing Cloud
  • Google (DFP / AdX)

Personalisation

The collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as on other websites or apps, over time. Typically, the content of the site or app is used to make inferences about your interests, which inform future selection of advertising and/or content.

View Companies Hide Companies

Company

  • Lotame Solutions, Inc.
  • OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates
  • LiveRamp, Inc.
  • Outbrain UK Ltd
  • EMX Digital LLC
  • Nielsen Marketing Cloud
  • Google (DFP / AdX)

Ad selection, delivery, reporting

The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver advertisements for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such advertisements. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select ads, processing data about what advertisements were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action related to the advertisement, including for example clicking an ad or making a purchase. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.

View Companies Hide Companies

Company

  • Lotame Solutions, Inc.
  • OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates
  • LiveRamp, Inc.
  • Outbrain UK Ltd
  • Google (DFP / AdX)

Content selection, delivery, reporting

The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver content for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such content. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select content, processing data about what content was shown, how often or how long it was shown, when and where it was shown, and whether the you took any action related to the content, including for example clicking on content. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.

View Companies Hide Companies

Company

  • Lotame Solutions, Inc.
  • LiveRamp, Inc.
  • Google (DFP / AdX)

Measurement

The collection of information about your use of the content, and combination with previously collected information, used to measure, understand, and report on your usage of the service. This does not include personalisation, the collection of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, i.e. on other service, such as websites or apps, over time.

View Companies Hide Companies

Company

  • Lotame Solutions, Inc.
  • RhythmOne, LLC
  • comScore, Inc.
  • DoubleVerify Inc.​
  • LiveRamp, Inc.
  • Outbrain UK Ltd
  • Google (DFP / AdX)

Company

Lotame Solutions, Inc.

Privacy policy: https://www.lotame.com/about-lotame/privacy/

Purposes:

  • Information storage and access
  • Personalisation
  • Ad selection, delivery, reporting
  • Content selection, delivery, reporting
  • Measurement

RhythmOne, LLC

Privacy policy: https://www.rhythmone.com/privacy-policy

Purposes:

  • Measurement

Legitimate Interest Purposes:

  • Information storage and access
  • Personalisation
  • Ad selection, delivery, reporting
  • Content selection, delivery, reporting

Features:

  • Matching Data to Offline Sources
  • Linking Devices
  • Precise Geographic Location Data

OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates

Privacy policy: https://www.openx.com/legal/privacy-policy/

Purposes:

  • Information storage and access
  • Personalisation
  • Ad selection, delivery, reporting

Features:

  • Matching Data to Offline Sources
  • Linking Devices
  • Precise Geographic Location Data

The Rubicon Project, Limited

Privacy policy: http://rubiconproject.com/rubicon-project-yield-optimization-privacy-policy/

Purposes:

  • Information storage and access

Legitimate Interest Purposes:

  • Personalisation
  • Ad selection, delivery, reporting
  • Content selection, delivery, reporting
  • Measurement

Features:

  • Precise Geographic Location Data

Index Exchange, Inc.

Privacy policy: http://www.indexexchange.com/privacy

Purposes:

  • Information storage and access

Features:

  • Linking Devices
  • Precise Geographic Location Data

comScore, Inc.

Privacy policy: https://www.comscore.com/About-comScore/Privacy-Policy

Purposes:

  • Information storage and access
  • Measurement

Features:

  • Linking Devices

DoubleVerify Inc.​

Privacy policy: https://www.doubleverify.com/privacy/

Purposes:

  • Information storage and access
  • Measurement

LiveRamp, Inc.

Privacy policy: https://www.liveramp.com/service-privacy-policy/

Purposes:

  • Information storage and access
  • Personalisation
  • Ad selection, delivery, reporting
  • Content selection, delivery, reporting
  • Measurement

Features:

  • Matching Data to Offline Sources
  • Linking Devices

Taboola Europe Limited

Privacy policy: https://www.taboola.com/privacy-policy

Purposes:

  • Information storage and access

Legitimate Interest Purposes:

  • Personalisation
  • Ad selection, delivery, reporting
  • Content selection, delivery, reporting
  • Measurement

Features:

  • Matching Data to Offline Sources
  • Linking Devices

PubMatic, Inc.

Privacy policy: https://pubmatic.com/privacy-policy/

Purposes:

  • Information storage and access

Legitimate Interest Purposes:

  • Personalisation
  • Ad selection, delivery, reporting
  • Content selection, delivery, reporting
  • Measurement

Outbrain UK Ltd

Privacy policy: https://www.outbrain.com/legal/

Purposes:

  • Information storage and access
  • Personalisation
  • Ad selection, delivery, reporting
  • Measurement

Legitimate Interest Purposes:

  • Content selection, delivery, reporting

Features:

  • Matching Data to Offline Sources

EMX Digital LLC

Privacy policy: https://emxdigital.com/privacy/

Purposes:

  • Information storage and access
  • Personalisation

Legitimate Interest Purposes:

  • Ad selection, delivery, reporting
  • Content selection, delivery, reporting
  • Measurement

Features:

  • Linking Devices
  • Precise Geographic Location Data

Nielsen Marketing Cloud

Privacy policy: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/privacy-statement/exelate-privacy-policy.html

Purposes:

  • Information storage and access
  • Personalisation

Legitimate Interest Purposes:

  • Measurement

Features:

  • Matching Data to Offline Sources
  • Linking Devices

Amazon Publisher Services

Privacy policy: https://ams.amazon.com/webpublisher/apsmanaged/apsagreement.html

Legitimate Interest Purposes:

  • Information storage and access
  • Personalisation
  • Ad selection, delivery, reporting
  • Content selection, delivery, reporting
  • Measurement

Google (DFP / AdX)

Privacy policy: https://adssettings.google.com/

Purposes:

  • Information storage and access
  • Personalisation
  • Ad selection, delivery, reporting
  • Content selection, delivery, reporting
  • Measurement