No more pencils no more books, No more teacher's dirty looks

Alice Cooper, the 1970’s, my teenage years. My rebellion - hanging out with local ‘bike boys’, going to a youth club in town (Dad lurking outside in the car to take me home), gate-crashing student discos. My parents waiting up if we were walked home by, heaven forbid, a boy. 

On reflection, we had lots of freedom, and loving care. I know my parents wanted the best for me, looked out for me. I was encouraged to look to the future, think about what I wanted to do long-term, become independent. I had a teacher who thought girls shouldn’t do A’Level Maths - my parents paid for a maths tutor when it was clear I wasn’t going to pass. And guess what? I got a ‘B’. Thanks Mum and Dad for not giving up on me.

Imagine you’re a child who can’t go to school. You live under constant attack in a war-torn city.  You manage to escape, via a hazardous and scary journey, to a neighbouring country.  Still no school. No education. You’re growing up in an environment where you feel everyone has given up on you. No-one wants you – you have to live in an unregistered tented settlement with limited basic facilities and rights…. like water, food, sanitation, healthcare, education, safety and security.

You and your family are illiterate and innumerate. Your parents have limited access to daily work because they are unregistered refugees with no employment rights. Is it any surprise that if there’s any work for children you’re sent out to help family finances? What’s the point in education? Its even harder if you're a woman or girl.. less freedom, less work, less education.

What do I know? Only what I read online. The media seems to have forgotten the 1.5 million Syrian refuges living in Lebanon (not to mention 30,000 Palestine refugees from Syria). Lebanon has over 500,000 Syrian refugee children, and up to 70% are not in school. 70% of Syrian refugees in Lebanon live below the poverty line. What can Lebanon do? The Lebanese are remarkably resilient, but they have to live with extra pressure on jobs, schools and healthcare. If you want to know more, try the UN factsheets.

Amazingly, I’ve got the opportunity to see first-hand how Global Care helps Syrian refugee children in Lebanon access education. Working with local partners, GC supports 100 refugee children at an informal 'shack school' in a roadside settlement. Providing basic education to these children increases their potential to either access formal schools or go on to vocational training. They know someone cares about them.  They know there are people who believe they have a future and that one day they may be able to contribute to the rebuilding of Syria.

That’s the theory. Next Tuesday all being well, I’ll meet some of these children. I’ll see what their lives are like, how different from my childhood. I never expected to be travelling to the Bekaa Valley, in eastern Lebanon, but I can’t wait to meet the local partners and visit the school. And yes, there is a little spark of anxiety – but I trust GC and know they’ll look after us!

I’ll try and blog when I’m there, schedule permitting. We arrive Monday evening and leave Thursday morning. There’s more about GC work in Lebanon, on their website