By Annemiek Hoogenboom, Country Director of the People's Postcode Lottery
Syrian refugee children line up to start school in the afternoon shift at Mtein School, Mount Lebanon. Photo: Theirworld/Hussein Baydoun
The ongoing flow of grim news from Aleppo makes me reflect again on our experiences this year with providing education to children in emergencies. The future for the Aleppo families and children is extremely uncertain. But I am also proud, that our lottery players could contribute substantially to more chances for education for Syrian girls and boys in Lebanon and Turkey. And energized by so many amazing and determined people I had the privilege to meet especially in Lebanon.
As Country Director of People's Postcode Lottery I travel with one goal: to find ways to fund organisations who make this world a better place and to connect them to our players. That means sometimes emotional encounters: as we focus on topics such as poverty, inequality, war crimes, and international cooperation.
Facts first. Of the 5 million Syrian refugees outside Syria over 1.5 million live in Lebanon, a country of about 4.5 million people, making up a quarter of its population. That's a sharp contrast with the only 0.07 percent Syrian migrants on the total European population. Sadly, the European Union tries to prevent Syrian migrants entering Europe and disguised its efforts as 'aid for sustainable development. While hundreds of millions of Euros often disappear in the pockets of corrupt politicians, people's right to move freely is under attack. The message: stay where you are!
Lebanon counts around 400,000 Syrian children between 6-15. Nearly half of the children are still out of school. But the other 200,000 are in school during the 2015-2016 school year. By supporting the children's charity Theirworld we have helped develop a unique double shift education to enrol Syrian children in school. This means that school teachers teach Lebanese children in the morning and Syrian children in the afternoon. Because this school year 30 percent more schools and their brave headmasters signed up for double shift education an additional 50,000 children can enjoy classes. We have also supported Theirworld to campaign for more funds from governments around the world to support this key initiative.
Education is a fundamental right. But education is also crucial to protect the children against early marriage, or child labour. The longer a child remains out of school the less likely it is to finish education. We know that, but I found that this year's progress in education for refugees is made possible by incredibly courageous women.
PPL Director Annemiek Hoogenboom watching girls learn to code as part of the Tech Hub Theirworld is piloting at Mtein School, Mount Lebanon. Photo: Theirworld/Hussein Baydoun
The headmaster Mrs Najah Banna of Mtein primary school, which is supported by Theirworld with the help of the Peoples Postcode Lottery, in Mount Lebanon is a one of such strong headed women with a big heart. Her not so ordinary school receives in the morning 580 pupils and in the afternoon 660. She explained in November her challenges to us. She just had received a request to place 40 more children. "I feel sad to return these children, also as I know that two neighbouring communities would not allow to open their schools for them." With great relief I heard the same evening that the activist coordinator of the double shift education at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Mrs Sonia Khoury, could arrange places for these 40 children.
Mrs Najah Banna, Head Teacher Mtein School, Mount Lebanon. Photo: Theirworld/Hussein Baydoun
Another brave and passionate Lebanese leader I met at one of the informal tented settlements in Bekaa Valley. Here in Zahle, Maria Assi, director of Beyond Association, leads a series of workshops and educational facilities, including handicrafts, and mother groups against early marriage of their girls.
Her challenges in reaching all children with education in Lebanon are twofold: the ongoing struggle with the landowners who ask more rent from the parents than they can pay, and feel forced to send their young boys to work in the potatoes harvest and secondly the need to giving children hope again. "We need to recreate the dreams of the children, they come here with traumatic memories, their parents are living in the survival mood, don't care too much for discipline and focus. When a child is absent for 10 days it cannot just go back to public school." Maria keeps expanding the existing classes with music and poetry classes and courses in calligraphy to help the children to express themselves.
I also met filmmaker Zeina Erhaim, who documents the horrors and dreams of women of Aleppo. She runs a women centre in Aleppo convinced that "when I do'nt document my friends lives nobody will remember the brave acts of women under siege."
Finally I saw how dance classes can give people dignity, hope and strength.
Nikita Shahbazi founded MOVE4Syrians in Beirut with one goal: to let women from Lebanon and Syria let use dance and yoga as a catalyst to create space for free thought. She teaches women dancing, who were never allowed to do so by their conservative environment. After discovering the liberating force of movement on their thinking and behaviour these women have only one wish, namely to spread dance to other women and children. She says: "To create a healing dance movement in a society in which girls and women feel locked up is wonderful."
For next year I wish that with a bit of help of our players more children have the opportunity to schooling and will experience peace and happiness!
Annemiek Hoogenboom
Annemiek is Country Director of the People's Postcode Lottery and co-founder of the Deutsche Postcode Lotterie in Germany.
People's Postcode Lottery is a long-term partner of the children's charity Theirworld.
As part of Novamedia, the Postcode Lotteries in The Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain and Germany ranked World's Top Fundraising Private Charity Donor by @cityam! https://www.postcodelottery.co.uk/about-us/news/world-s-top-fundraising-private-charity-donor
The fundraising lottery model, with such a high contribution to charities of almost £6.1 billion to date thanks to millions of players, is unique in the world.
Players of People's Postcode Lottery in Great Britain alone have raised more than £161 Million for more than 2,800 good causes across Great Britain and internationally.