Education opportunities for 200 Palestinian Refuge

Introduction; 

The humanitarian situation in Lebanon in general and in the refugee camps in particular continues to worsen, triggering increased poverty and despair. The economic collapse ranks among the worst globally in modern times. It has caused severe inflation and unemployment, putting basic living costs out of reach for tens of thousands of people and resulting in acute humanitarian needs. According to UNRWA protection report, the worsening socio-economic situation in Lebanon has put 93 percent of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon below the poverty line .The protection situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon in 2023 continued to be heavily affected by the ongoing socio-economic crisis, political instability, and financial strains and there is an increase in the number of child labor, working in informal and unregulated jobs, or ending up on the streets collecting garbage and begging all over the country, and across all population groups. Nine percent of families residing in Lebanon sent their child to work, 15 percent stopped their children’s education and 60 percent had to buy food on credit or borrow money.

Moreover,  Children's life have been badly influenced by the crisis in Lebanon, which has affected family ties, education, health, welfare, and poverty. The effects of multidimensional child poverty extend well beyond issues related to health, work, and income. Although children have a strong awareness of their rights, there have also been detrimental effects in family dynamics, such as guilt and regret. These hardships have a substantial negative influence on mental health, and children's access to protection has been hampered by rising rates of violence and unsafe conditions.

Additionally, the aggression of the armed battles that happened since the end of July 2023 until September 2023 in En El Hilweh camp has been extending and inflicting displacement, trauma, injuries, fatalities, and instabilities. During the two rounds of violent battles, stray missiles and bullets, as well as random bombardments, have been unstoppably damaging dwellings and resources, endangering people lives, and resulting in continual waves of evacuation from the camp to emergency facilities. More than 2568 families have been displaced from their homes to mosques, UNRWA schools that have been turned into emergency centers, warehouses, gatherings, and others have resorted to relative’s houses in Saida and surrounding areas because of the destructive bombardments, random missiles, and unanswered calls for mercy. More over the bad security situation in south also  affects children and households with serious impacts that go well beyond traditional measures (i.e., lack of income, shelter, employment, health, etc. also its  changing family dynamics, damage to the parent/ child relationship, mental health, and future aspirations. It is clear that Lebanon is facing a childhood emergency that will have long-term consequences on children and the country as a whole.

Main Achievements;

-          Providing 400 children aged 4 to 12 years in Rashydieh and Ein El helweh Camps with a friendly environment that ensures their health, education and psycho-social development. Knowing that, 50 out of them will be enrolled in KG, while the 350 children aged 6 years are referred and follow up is taking place in their UNRWA schools with the basic literacy and numeracy program.

-          500 parents and caregivers motivated to be engaged in their children's learning and well-being

-          393 (184 M,209F) students between the ages of 4 and 12 have registered in the Rashydieh and Ein El Helweh Camps in accordance with the project's criteria in order to guarantee their psycho-social development, education, and health.

-          Providing educational intervention in Ein el Helwe and Rashidieh and track the academic performance of the children

-          Established a referral complaint mechanism group consisting of refugees committee in Ein El Helweh and Rashydieh, Nabaa psychologist, community worker and area supervisor. This committee will not be a specialized one with regards to protection and case management, as its main role is to be able to refer the cases whom are in need for such specialized intervention with the concern NGOs or INGOs in their areas.

-          Raising awareness among 500 parents about the main topics related to their children (How to communicate with the children in difficult circumstances, promoting self - esteem, self - resilience, the importance of education for the children)

Case Study;

•  Name:Adel. A-EEHC

Age: 5 years old

KG students

Nationality: PRL

• Adel is a 5-year-old Palestinian refugee who lives in Ein El Helwe camp with his father, husband, wife, two sisters, and three brothers. The social workers at Nabaa observed that Adel dropped out of school and stayed on the street with dirty clothes. So home visits were done to caregivers, and after communication with his parents, the social worker noticed that Adel has problems with speech (he cannot speak well) as well as his movement (he has Arched legs), and due to these problems, all kindergartens rejected him. So the social worker registered him at Nabaa kindergarten to take his right to education and to be in a safe space. Also, the social worker referred him to a speech therapy center to follow up with him, and she also referred him to a doctor to diagnose the problem of his movement. After an x-ray, the doctor observed that Adel was suffering from arched legs, and he gave him a leg brace that helped in improving his movement. Note that all financial fees have been paid by Nabaa.

Moreover, the teacher has done several individual plans to improve his educational performance, and the social worker has done several home visits to follow up with him as well as merge his caregivers with different awareness sessions such as how to stay clean, how to deal with children, how to take care of children, and different topics. So on mid-year, we observed improvements in his educational performance, behaviour, being clean, movement and speech.

• Name: M and M-EEHC

Age: M is  6 years old and M is  9years

Grade 1 student

Nationality: PRL

• M and M are Palestinian refugees who have witnessed many traumatizing events throughout their childhood. Children are living with their grandfather due to the divorce of their parents, and their mother left them and got married. But the grandpa’s knowledge of the importance of education is null, so they are out of school. The social worker at Nabaa observed them, and she communicated with UNRWA School to register them, so both enrolled at UNRWA School in grade 1. And I also registered at the Nabaa Center to receive learning support.

The teacher did a pre-assessment to determine their level of education. She noticed that there was no educational knowledge (they could not hold the pencil correctly, define letters, numbers, shapes, etc.; they didn’t know anything), so we put together an action plan and prepared extra activities to help them continue their level of education and extra activities for previous academic lessons. Moreover, after working with children, the teachers observed some psychological symptoms (anxiety, fear, and pee reflex), so the teacher referred them to a Nabaa psychologist. She observed that the divorce affected them psychologically, so she gave awareness sessions to grandpa to learn how to deal with children and follow up on the children’s behaviour, as well as individual sessions that were done with psychologists and children. Whereas on the educational performance, the teacher observed that children were ambitious and never hesitated to do their homework or to interact with their teachers.

After passing mid-year, teachers observed an improvement in the education and psychosocial behaviour of children. as well as teachers visited the school to follow up with them, gather certificates, and communicate with school teachers so they succeed with good grades and can continue their level of education without difficulties.