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Cupcakes and yo-yos: How Lebanon’s youth are keeping Eid alive for displaced children - L'Orient Today

21 March, 2026.Lebanon.1 sources

Key Takeaways

Youth-led initiatives organize Eid al-Fitr activities for displaced children amid ongoing war.
Cupcakes and yo-yos symbolize community efforts to keep Eid alive for affected kids.
Emerging volunteer efforts target displaced children by providing festive activities as Eid approach.

Eid scene in Baabda shelter

In a crowded shelter in Baabda, on the outskirts of Beirut, a small boy carefully unboxes a toy while eating a chocolate cupcake, his eyes bright with excitement despite the chaos around him.

Families forcibly displaced by Israeli attacks shuffle through narrow hallways lined with mattresses, arguileh pipes, and rearranged desks — every corner repurposed and claimed to preserve a semblance of a home.

Municipality workers, Education and Social Affairs ministry representatives move through the crowd, organizing the day's distribution.

A group of young volunteers moves quietly among the bustle of kids, gifting toys and sweets.

It is Eid al-Fitr.

And everyone here, it seems, has shown up for it.

Caption moment: Hussien's scene

Hussien, 2, drinking a juice and receiving a toy from youth-run personal initiatives at the Higher Shiite Islamic Council in Hazmieh, sheltering forcibly displaced families, on March 20, 2026.