Fares is four years old. He came to SOS Children’s Villages through a mosque imam, who found him in January 2024 as a separated and unaccompanied child. Fares spent one year and eight months under the care of SOS Children’s Villages, living in Mama Hidaya’s caravan.

During this time, the team made many efforts to reunite him with his family, especially since his full name was known. However, due to the harsh conditions of the war, they were unable to reach his relatives.

“Despite his young age, when he saw his father, he ran to him quickly, even though he had been lost since he was about two years old,” says Wissal Edwan, Project Manager for Unaccompanied and Separated Children.

In the following months, Ibrahim, the social worker at SOS Children’s Villages Palestine tried to trace Fares’ family without success. Meanwhile, Fares continued to receive care, support, and daily attention according to his needs from his caregiver Mama Hidaya in the camp.

One day, Fares needed urgent medical attention, so his caregiver and the social worker took him to the nearest hospital. There, the social worker asked the hospital administration to try to provide an address for his family. Due to repeated displacement and the chaos caused by continuous bombardments, locating them had been extremely difficult.

After many trials, the hospital provided an address, which the social worker then shared with the focal point at the Ministry of Social Development. The Ministry verified the family and confirmed the father’s identity based on official documents he had submitted.

A week later, the Ministry decided to hand the child over to his family. The father arrived at the camp with his sister. From a distance, Fares saw his father, even though he was at an age where remembering his father’s features would have been difficult; but he ran quickly toward him, hugging him tightly.

Before they left together for their tent, the family received support from the team, including infant formula, vegetables, summer and winter clothing for the child and all the necessary supplies.

The team included the family in post reunification efforts in order to support them economically and psychosocially after the reunification.