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This appeal is now completed. You raised £14,781.79!
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We've raised £14,781.79, but we need your help to raise the remaining £2,312.21.
More than a decade of civil war in Syria has taken a heavy toll. Fighting brings open destruction, but there are other, hidden, consequences of conflict – including the collapse of children’s learning.
Before the war, Syria had a proud 97% school enrolment rate. Now millions of children are out of school, and others at substantial risk of dropping out.
Sadder still, the triple crises of 2020 – ongoing conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic downturn – have brought even more instability into children’s lives. Two in three families report that they cannot meet basic needs. Since 2020, the basic food basket price has increased by 236% while the Syrian pound has dropped by 78%.
But there is hope.
For the last three years Global Care’s local partners have been working to improve learning for Syrian children. They help to keep them in school, and to provide a safe, therapeutic space where they can begin to express and explore the many emotional challenges of their lives.
The Hope Centre lives up to its name: Children who have suffered unimaginable trauma learn to read and write, to play, to heal and to hope again.
*Araya’s family lived under ISIS in a village near Aleppo before escaping to Jaramana four years ago. Living in the midst of the war caused psychological and relational damage for Araya. When she first came to the Hope Centre she couldn’t read or write and had no confidence. The team described her as “isolated and anti-social”, however with time and encouragement she began to join in and speak up. With lessons in Arabic, Maths and English, she is beginning to make academic progress too.
For Lent 2022 we would like to raise £17,094 to support the work of the Hope Centre for a further 12 months.
Initially funded through our 2019 Christmas Appeal, we are committed to continuing this work, which is having a significant impact in the lives of marginalised families.
Education & Therapy
The Hope Centre runs School Clubs for up to 90 children living in Jaramana, a suburb of Damascus which was on the frontline of fighting for many years. It is now home to families displaced from across northern Syria, often in unfinished or damaged apartments.
The children, all in Grades 1-3 aged roughly between six and nine years old, are all enrolled in government schools but attend the Hope Centre for extra support with literacy and numeracy. The Hope Centre also employs a counsellor to deliver therapeutic interventions with identified children.
Global Care CEO John White said: “We are absolutely thrilled at the impact this project is having, not just on the children but on the internally displaced families in this community. We very much want to continue, as the need is greater than ever. Please help us continue to support this community.”