Gharsah school for Syrian kids
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Who are we?
We are a group of Syrian activists and education professionals wishing to alleviate the multiple hardships faced by Syrian refugees in Bekaa, Lebanon. We strive to better their lives through educational support, raising awareness, and walking hand in hand with them in hopes of building a better future for Syria.
Our Vision:
To ensure Syrian refugee families in Lebanon are supportive of child education, and free of domestic and gender-based violence plus they are equipped with the potential of contributing to the building of a future Syria based on the values of equality, and justice.
Our Mission:
Preparing Syrian refugee children in the Bekaa Valley to get an official education in Lebanon and preparing their parents, their mothers in particular, and their female relatives to implement a positive and constructive atmosphere within their families.
Our values/principles:
DO NO HARM
Transparency
Participation
Our Working Field:
The Gharsah initiative, with its Children program and Women program, is oriented towards supporting the Syrian family in Al Marj area, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
The Children program includes:
1- Get Ready project:
Aims to prepare Syrian children who are under the official age to attend official schools and be ready to join their peers in the official classes. This includes three pre-primary classes KG1, KG2 and KG3.
2- Proceed project:
Aims to support Syrian students, who are already enrolled in the official Lebanese schools, to overcome the educational challenges they face.
The Women Empowerment program:
Targets women and aims to prepare them in order to support their children in the educational process. It includes:
1- Education project:
Aims to support the mothers educationally, through teaching them subjects like mathematics, in order for them to be able to support their children throughout the children's learning process.
2- Awareness project:
Aims to raise the awareness amongst Syrian refugee women and female adolescents about sexual and reproductive health, knowledge of their human rights, and prevention against gender-based violence.
3- Psychosocial Support project:
Aims to provide psychological support to Syrian refugee families.
Why should you support Gharsah Center?
1- Gharsah Center is the only center which provides these services in the whole area of Al-Marj, knowing that Al-Marj is the second most populated area with refugees in the whole of the Bekaa Valley.
2- Gharsah Center prepares Syrian refugee kids to be able to attend Lebanese Public schools. We teach them the Lebanese curriculum and we also focus on improving their English since the curriculum is taught only in English. It is difficult for Syrian refugees to get a spot in Lebanese public schools, and also to successfully study there due to many complications related to safety, economic status, and discrimination. Therefore, by what we do in Gharsah, we are assisting these children to take their first steps towards learning and making their educational experience easier. We support them in numerous ways such as accompanying them to Lebanese public schools in the area, helping them get registered with respective institutions, and ensuring that they are registered on time. We strive to have good relations with the public schools so that we are trusted in the local educational community. Thus, our students are also trusted and liked. Gharsah's work has shown to have a positive impact on the lives of many of these children. Those children who attend Gharsah are more likely to register successfully with the local public schools and continue their education with chances of dropping out decreasing. Gharsah ensures such an impact due to us preparing the students and equipping them with the necessary tools for their educational lives ahead.
3- There are no public kindergartens that provide Syrian refugee children with pre-primary education. Furthermore, only a small number of refugees can afford to send their children to private kindergartens.
Our Story:
After fleeing to Lebanon from Syria, a handful of Syrian experts in education pioneered the ethos behind Gharsah. They were moved and motivated by the painful comments made by hundreds of little kids now forced to live in refugee camps, “We don’t have school today”, “We used to learn back in Syria, we had our own schools and friends, now we have nothing”
The educational center became known around the community as Gharsah. In 2014, inside a tent at a refugee camp in the Bekaa valley, Lebanon, the idea grew into fruition turning into its first educational center. The primary intention was to help the children learn the Lebanese curriculum, and ensure that the tent would be a space where they could foster relationships with their peers while maintaining a respectful atmosphere. The donations we received for the project came from individuals from different countries all around the globe. Knowing that the donations were from around the world gave the children a sense of hope, knowing that there were people who cared about them, their stories, and the difficulties that challenge them every day.
The tent was also a space for mothers of the children to participate in the process of educating their children. This is done by identifying the needs of the mothers in order to support their children’s ability to learn and improve. We assist in helping the mothers which in turn aid the children. The mothers knew that if they believed in their abilities first, then they would be able to assist their families more effectively. They communicated the need for developing their self-confidence in order to help their kids, themselves, and their families. This discussion eventually led to today’s Women Empowerment Program.
In mid-2015, we were in the midst of our work when suddenly a decision to disband the camp alongside 3 other camps were issued without any previous notice. We tried our best to prevent the awful decision and the closing of the school, however, three days later we were forced to remove all the tents. Many of these families had nowhere to go, and many others went back to the dangers of their cities in Syria. Removing the tents felt like we were removing the dreams and hopes from the hearts of the children. All they understood was, “We won’t have a school anymore”. We promised them that we would return.
That promise was the only motivation that pushed us to try again and again. We still had hope. Fortunately, out of the hope we had, we managed to convince a group of Syrian volunteers (Molham Team) to help us support the education of these children. They also kindly donated enough to re-open Gharsah. We opened the center again in an area where the municipality is supportive of Syrian refugees and their issues, especially those related to education. This time we opened up in a proper school building instead of a tent.
That is where we have been working, since mid-2015. The team members have changed in the past three years but the vision and the dream of the team have remained the same and grew even more powerful.
At the beginning of this year, due to lack of funding, we had to stop our “Home” project, as well as the psychosocial support program so that we could put all our focus into the children's education program. We were able to continue funding the children’s education program because of funding received by the original founder of the Gharsah center, Mohammad Aljounde. He was awarded, by Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzi, the International Children’s Peace Prize from the Dutch children’s organization KidsRights. We utilized the prize money for Gharsah’s kids.
Here is a link to our founder's story:-
https://www.theguardian.com/working-in-development/2017/dec/22/i-knew-people-who-had-harder-lives-than-me-the-syrian-refugee-child-who-started-a-school
The cost of children-related projects:
$29 is the monthly direct cost to provide a Syrian refugee child with an education in Gharsah Center.
$4,350 is the monthly direct cost to provide 150 Syrian refugee children with education in Gharsah Center. The amount includes:
- Salaries for 5 teachers (2,000$)
- Transportation (1,000$)
- The building’s rent (500$)
- Heating (250$)
- Electricity and water (150$)
- Stationary (150$)
- Internet and communication (110$)
- Restoration (140$)
- Cleaning materials (50$).
$52,200 is the annual cost for 150 Syrian refugee children to be provided an education at the Gharsah Center.
Luckily, KidsRights organization decided to support us by covering $26,600 of the direct costs of the full budget.
However, we still need $25,600 to cover the rest.
Every single dollar/euro/pound is going to contribute to saving a Syrian child’s future by providing them with an education.
For further information:
Email: [email redacted]
Phone: +961 70 971 923
Who are we?
We are a group of Syrian activists and education professionals wishing to alleviate the multiple hardships faced by Syrian refugees in Bekaa, Lebanon. We strive to better their lives through educational support, raising awareness, and walking hand in hand with them in hopes of building a better future for Syria.
Our Vision:
To ensure Syrian refugee families in Lebanon are supportive of child education, and free of domestic and gender-based violence plus they are equipped with the potential of contributing to the building of a future Syria based on the values of equality, and justice.
Our Mission:
Preparing Syrian refugee children in the Bekaa Valley to get an official education in Lebanon and preparing their parents, their mothers in particular, and their female relatives to implement a positive and constructive atmosphere within their families.
Our values/principles:
DO NO HARM
Transparency
Participation
Our Working Field:
The Gharsah initiative, with its Children program and Women program, is oriented towards supporting the Syrian family in Al Marj area, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
The Children program includes:
1- Get Ready project:
Aims to prepare Syrian children who are under the official age to attend official schools and be ready to join their peers in the official classes. This includes three pre-primary classes KG1, KG2 and KG3.
2- Proceed project:
Aims to support Syrian students, who are already enrolled in the official Lebanese schools, to overcome the educational challenges they face.
The Women Empowerment program:
Targets women and aims to prepare them in order to support their children in the educational process. It includes:
1- Education project:
Aims to support the mothers educationally, through teaching them subjects like mathematics, in order for them to be able to support their children throughout the children's learning process.
2- Awareness project:
Aims to raise the awareness amongst Syrian refugee women and female adolescents about sexual and reproductive health, knowledge of their human rights, and prevention against gender-based violence.
3- Psychosocial Support project:
Aims to provide psychological support to Syrian refugee families.
Why should you support Gharsah Center?
1- Gharsah Center is the only center which provides these services in the whole area of Al-Marj, knowing that Al-Marj is the second most populated area with refugees in the whole of the Bekaa Valley.
2- Gharsah Center prepares Syrian refugee kids to be able to attend Lebanese Public schools. We teach them the Lebanese curriculum and we also focus on improving their English since the curriculum is taught only in English. It is difficult for Syrian refugees to get a spot in Lebanese public schools, and also to successfully study there due to many complications related to safety, economic status, and discrimination. Therefore, by what we do in Gharsah, we are assisting these children to take their first steps towards learning and making their educational experience easier. We support them in numerous ways such as accompanying them to Lebanese public schools in the area, helping them get registered with respective institutions, and ensuring that they are registered on time. We strive to have good relations with the public schools so that we are trusted in the local educational community. Thus, our students are also trusted and liked. Gharsah's work has shown to have a positive impact on the lives of many of these children. Those children who attend Gharsah are more likely to register successfully with the local public schools and continue their education with chances of dropping out decreasing. Gharsah ensures such an impact due to us preparing the students and equipping them with the necessary tools for their educational lives ahead.
3- There are no public kindergartens that provide Syrian refugee children with pre-primary education. Furthermore, only a small number of refugees can afford to send their children to private kindergartens.
Our Story:
After fleeing to Lebanon from Syria, a handful of Syrian experts in education pioneered the ethos behind Gharsah. They were moved and motivated by the painful comments made by hundreds of little kids now forced to live in refugee camps, “We don’t have school today”, “We used to learn back in Syria, we had our own schools and friends, now we have nothing”
The educational center became known around the community as Gharsah. In 2014, inside a tent at a refugee camp in the Bekaa valley, Lebanon, the idea grew into fruition turning into its first educational center. The primary intention was to help the children learn the Lebanese curriculum, and ensure that the tent would be a space where they could foster relationships with their peers while maintaining a respectful atmosphere. The donations we received for the project came from individuals from different countries all around the globe. Knowing that the donations were from around the world gave the children a sense of hope, knowing that there were people who cared about them, their stories, and the difficulties that challenge them every day.
The tent was also a space for mothers of the children to participate in the process of educating their children. This is done by identifying the needs of the mothers in order to support their children’s ability to learn and improve. We assist in helping the mothers which in turn aid the children. The mothers knew that if they believed in their abilities first, then they would be able to assist their families more effectively. They communicated the need for developing their self-confidence in order to help their kids, themselves, and their families. This discussion eventually led to today’s Women Empowerment Program.
In mid-2015, we were in the midst of our work when suddenly a decision to disband the camp alongside 3 other camps were issued without any previous notice. We tried our best to prevent the awful decision and the closing of the school, however, three days later we were forced to remove all the tents. Many of these families had nowhere to go, and many others went back to the dangers of their cities in Syria. Removing the tents felt like we were removing the dreams and hopes from the hearts of the children. All they understood was, “We won’t have a school anymore”. We promised them that we would return.
That promise was the only motivation that pushed us to try again and again. We still had hope. Fortunately, out of the hope we had, we managed to convince a group of Syrian volunteers (Molham Team) to help us support the education of these children. They also kindly donated enough to re-open Gharsah. We opened the center again in an area where the municipality is supportive of Syrian refugees and their issues, especially those related to education. This time we opened up in a proper school building instead of a tent.
That is where we have been working, since mid-2015. The team members have changed in the past three years but the vision and the dream of the team have remained the same and grew even more powerful.
At the beginning of this year, due to lack of funding, we had to stop our “Home” project, as well as the psychosocial support program so that we could put all our focus into the children's education program. We were able to continue funding the children’s education program because of funding received by the original founder of the Gharsah center, Mohammad Aljounde. He was awarded, by Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzi, the International Children’s Peace Prize from the Dutch children’s organization KidsRights. We utilized the prize money for Gharsah’s kids.
Here is a link to our founder's story:-
https://www.theguardian.com/working-in-development/2017/dec/22/i-knew-people-who-had-harder-lives-than-me-the-syrian-refugee-child-who-started-a-school
The cost of children-related projects:
$29 is the monthly direct cost to provide a Syrian refugee child with an education in Gharsah Center.
$4,350 is the monthly direct cost to provide 150 Syrian refugee children with education in Gharsah Center. The amount includes:
- Salaries for 5 teachers (2,000$)
- Transportation (1,000$)
- The building’s rent (500$)
- Heating (250$)
- Electricity and water (150$)
- Stationary (150$)
- Internet and communication (110$)
- Restoration (140$)
- Cleaning materials (50$).
$52,200 is the annual cost for 150 Syrian refugee children to be provided an education at the Gharsah Center.
Luckily, KidsRights organization decided to support us by covering $26,600 of the direct costs of the full budget.
However, we still need $25,600 to cover the rest.
Every single dollar/euro/pound is going to contribute to saving a Syrian child’s future by providing them with an education.
For further information:
Email: [email redacted]
Phone: +961 70 971 923
Organizer
Gharsah Center
Organizer
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