“The activities helped us forget’ How War Child is supporting children in Lebanon through the conflict

By the time Huda's family were able to return home, the pomegranates had already fallen off the trees to rot. The parsley and rocket had withered and lemongrass stalks were sagging - two months of displacement had left their garden in disrepair.

- William Christou in Beirut

"When we returned to the house, we didn't know if it was still standing or not - thank God, it is. You can stay elsewhere, but there is nothing like your own home," said Huda, a mother of four, a few days after she had returned to her house in Babliyeh, a village in southern Lebanon, after the ceasefire with Israel was agreed on 27 November.

Huda and her family fled their village on the 25 September. Two days earlier, Israel began an intense aerial bombing campaign across Lebanon that displaced more than one million people, primarily from south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Huda's family listened anxiously as the approach of bombing grew nearer - until a bomb went off near their house.

Huda grabbed what possessions she could and set off towards Akkar, Lebanon's northernmost province, where she had relatives. It was the first time the family had been north of Beirut. They arrived penniless, bouncing between relatives' homes for a month before hearing of a school that was housing people displaced by the war.

The shelter, run by War Child, the only specialist charity for children affected by conflict, has housed dozens of displaced families since the sudden escalation in fighting in September.

War Child, which works in some of the most dangerous parts of the world providing emergency aid, specialist mental health support and education to help hundreds of thousands of children recover from the trauma of conflict, is one of the Guardian and Observer's charity appeal partners this year.

"We know how to change the lives of children who are caught up in wars they did not start, and the vital funds raised from this appeal will allow us to reach them and make this impact," the charity says.