The Hope School is a project in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. In order to reinforce Syrian refugee children and adolescents’ ability to overcome the suffering and lack of education endured by armed conflict, in 2014 the school building was constructed. In 2015 and 2016, Najda Now International (NNI) in cooperation with Said Foundation, supported by London Speaker Bureau (LSB), started running the school officially. From 2016, London Speaker Bureau became the sole funder of the project.
The chances of Syrian refugee children joining Lebanese schools in the area are minimal due to the great distance and limited number of available places. The core goal of this project is to give these children a chance to continue their education.
The families in the region live in very basic conditions on farmers’ land, rented to them by the farmers in exchange for many of the women working on the land for low wages. Most of the tents are crowded and accommodate in excess of two families with very limited access to electricity and water.
The school is a welcome break from life in the camps for the pupils. There is a school bus which collects them from the various camps in the region and brings them to school which commences at 8am. There are ten classes in total with 200 pupils ranging from five to eleven years old.
Classrooms are bustling with activities, crafts, singing and games. The school’s headmistress, Lena, is a trained special needs teacher and therefore places importance on fostering an interactive, non-linear teaching methodology.
Every opportunity to learn and excite has been used – the school’s hallway walls are filled with beautiful illustrations and its steps scribed with times tables, seasons and months of the year. The teachers have to be inventive with learning and this is beautifully showcased in the way that the simplest of resources have been utilised to enhance both learning and play.
The families in the region live in very basic conditions on farmers’ land, rented to them by the farmers in exchange for many of the women working on the land for low wages. Most of the tents are crowded and accommodate in excess of two families with very limited access to electricity and water.
The school is a welcome break from life in the camps for the pupils. There is a school bus which collects them from the various camps in the region and brings them to school which commences at 8am. There are ten classes in total with 200 pupils ranging from five to eleven years old.
Students are taught Maths, English, Arabic and Science by 10 excellent, engaging teachers who work with what they have to engage the students in learning. What’s striking is how vibrant the children are – all totally engrossed in what they are learning. With students sat in their coats to keep warm, the classes are still filled with excited conversation and hands shooting up to answer questions at every opportunity.
Teachers use songs, props and chanting to aid language skills and retention; whilst the very youngest pupils use paint and craft material to develop their dexterity before they move on to reading and writing.
There is also another section to the Hope School which is used as an adult learning centre. Older members of the community can learn vocational skills such as sewing, providing adults with a place to come and learn as well as the children.
The atmosphere at the Hope School serves as a stark contrast to its surrounding environment. With the situation in Syria changing every day it is clear that countries like Lebanon can expect to continue receiving Syrian refugees, making projects such as the school imperative in areas like the Bekaa Valley which accommodate a significant proportion of the 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
