• The Syrian crisis which started in 2011, has forced more than 5 million people to leave the country. Many have fled to the neighboring country, Lebanon, which according to government figures has hosted more than 1.5 million Syrians making Lebanon the country with the highest ratio of refugees per capita.
• Even though the Lebanese government has tried to provide education opportunities to Syrian children, more than half of this population is out of school thereby missing key years of education.
• Refugee families suffer from increasingly limited economic resources. It is estimated that 73% of these families are living below the poverty line (2019 Vulnerability assessment of Syrian Families in Lebanon). This situation further undermines children's possibilities to attend school, as most families cannot afford tuition, food and the school materials.
• This combined with the trauma, stress and anxiety deriving from war and displacement will drive this generation of Syrian children to become part of the lost generation, a generation that will not have the possibility to attend school and therefore improve their future.

However, you can help change their path !

Goals 

• To give Syrian children the possibility to receive quality education they need and deserve and prevent them from becoming part of a ‘lost generation’. This will allow them to continue into the Lebanese Education System.
• To give food and materials for those students that arrive at the centers with an empty stomach and without the necessary utensils for class as their families are not always able to afford these resources.

Activities

• The two centers (in Beirut, Arsal) are equipped with modern teaching aids and tools where students are encouraged to enjoy the information provided to them in easy and simple ways.Each class accommodates 20 children, taking into consideration their age and educational level.
• Curriculum: the official Lebanese curriculum.Special curricula are designed to suit children and their abilities and capabilities in simple and interesting methods.
•  Subjects:
  • Arabic
  • English in Beirut / French in Arsal
  • Mathematics (in English in Beirut / in French in Arsal)
  • Science
  • Civic Education
  • Geography – History
  • Arts (Handicrafts – Theater – Music

Myriad Canada is working with SB OverSeas on this project, a non-profit organisation based in Belgium dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to refugees and victims of conflict. SB OverSeas works with refugees in two geographical focus areas: Lebanon and Belgium. In Lebanon, they distribute emergency aid and run educational and empowerment programs in the centres based in Arsal and Beirut.