Working children given a path off Lebanon's streets

For two years, Syrian teenager Ibrahim scraped together a paltry living selling lottery tickets and tissues on the crowded streets of Beirut, but that seems like a lifetime ago now.

The 18-year-old's life turned around after three months' training at a flower shop as part of an apprenticeship program for vulnerable Lebanese and Syrian youths organized by an international humanitarian group.
"Among the flowers, I forget what happened to us. I forget our worries," Ibrahim said, gently arranging a bouquet.

He was one of 24 Syrian and Lebanese youths who took part in a training scheme organized by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) that took them off the streets and provided them with a small stipend.

At a flower shop in the Cola district of the Lebanese capital, Ibrahim has learned how to clean and water flowers, then arrange them into beautifully designed bouquets.

"It really boosted my morale learning the basics of flower arrangement," he said quietly.

"In the streets, I used to hear really bad things. But here, I've learned mutual respect and a new trade."

At least 1,510 children, three-quarters of them Syrian, live or work in the streets of Lebanon, according to a report by U.N. agencies, NGOs and Lebanon's labor ministry published this year.

The report's authors said the real number of children on the streets could be up to three times higher than that.

At least 43 percent of those on the street beg for money, and 37 percent sell small items, like tissue paper or chewing gum.

Others carry grocery bags, shine shoes or operate small parking lots, with most making between $3 and $12 daily.

A number are exploited in illicit or illegal professions - including prostitution...