I started The Olive Branch when the war in Lebanon began and I saw how deeply it affected my friends and family there. I realised how hard it was for many people around me in London to fully understand what daily life looks like for young people living through conflict. The Olive Branch was my way of creating a bridge, a place where young people in conflict zones can share their stories, artwork, and perspectives, and where students in more stable settings can learn about these experiences directly from those living them.

The magazine focuses on everyday realities rather than distant headlines: how children express fear or hope through drawings, what it feels like to leave home suddenly, and how young people make sense of instability around them.

Recent posts include:

• “Sniper Image by Rick Findler, Photojournalist” – a discussion of one of Rick Findler’s images from Aleppo. (Findler also spoke at the FHS Sixth Form Speaker Programme this year.)
• Children’s artwork from Asmara, Eritrea – drawings by children reflecting their experiences and environment.
• “Sonya’s Poetry” – a Ukrainian girl’s collection of poems about her story and her country.
• “La fleur dans les ruines” – a painting created by a 10 year old girl during the Lebanese Civil War that shows how young people can process destruction through art.

Across the site, the goal is the same: to bring young people’s voices to the foreground and to make global crises more understandable, personal, and human.

Find out more by visiting The Olive Branch website and Instagram page.

Milla N, Year 13