בהיעדר בית ומדינה: התקווה בקרב ילדי הפליטים בבית הספר לשלום

The study focuses on refugee children living in a temporary transit camp on the Island of Lesbos in Greece and attending a unique school, which, under transit camp conditions, endeavors to provide the children with safety, security, and an adaptive learning experience. The research question was: Can children develop a high level of hope during prolonged hardship and distress?The Children’s Hope Scale was administered to 132 refugee children aged 6-16attending the school. The general hope scores among the refugee children were similar to those in other children’s populations. The Adolescent group’s Hope scores were lower than in the other groups, and highest in the Intermediate group. Differences were also found between groups of children from different countries of origin.Findings confirm that hope is a component of inner resilience and not necessarily dependent on external circumstances, even when those circumstances are harsh and threatening.