Back in September during our Care for Education campaign, we stressed on the importance of education for the Syrian refugee children, particularly for the little ones who are currently attending our Mobile School in Jordan.
Fast forward a few months later to November, our Singapore team had the blessed opportunity to personally visit the mobile school while on the ground distributing bread & food aid packs to the refugee families living in Al-Mafraq refugee camps. The visit was part of our first round of distribution for the Winter Emergency Appeal campaign.
Together with our friends from Islamic Help Jordan and led by the seasoned Dr Khalid, our team travelled for an hour by car from Jordan’s capital Amman to the camp situated in the Sadba Area in Al-Mafraq.
Before reaching the refugee camps, our team stopped by a dainty supermarket just as they reached Al-Mafraq to buy sweets, snacks, biscuits and packet drinks for the children. For most members of the team, it was their first ever visit to a refugee camp and a school that is situated there.
Upon arrival at the camp, the team was greeted by the curious children and a few of their parents. Most of the children were already in their classes – two mobile schools funded by Global Ehsan Relief with the support of our generous donors. The classes are held in a makeshift container, with a few windows and only one door as the entrance and exit.
There were two classes currently in session when the team arrived. Class 1 was catered for older children and there were 15 students, while Class 2 was for children younger than seven years old and there were a total of 35 students.
“There’s two levels here, preliminary and advanced. In preliminary levels, we teach them the alphabet, and in the advanced level we teach them words and sentences,” shared the Class 2 teacher, Thekrayat Alhmayan.
Ms Thekrayat, 28, is a Jordanian educator who has been teaching at this particular container school for the past four months.
“Before this, we were at another location for a long time before we moved here. It was at the Khalifah Camp. We were there for 3 years. It was also located in Mafraq, close to this place,” she shared with the team.
Ms Thekrayat shared more about the condition of her students before they started going to school and their current progress now. It was heartwarming to see the students reciting the Al-Quran by heart and how their love for the religion stood firm despite the conditions that they were in. Additionally, the students had also prepared a performance for our team as a gesture of welcome and the teachers were eager to show what the students have learned.
It was clear to see that there were vast improvements among the children as a result of their exposure to education, which is crucial for their development.
“Before this, these children had very little knowledge and there are a lot of things that they don’t know. So firstly we taught them order, arrangement & attention. Everything you learnt in school.”
Thekrayat Alhmayan, Teacher of Class 2
“You can see for yourself how much these students progressed, after all the effort and tiring days. Alhamdulillah we have given them all the support they need. We teach them Islamic knowledge, reading, general knowledge, which are all the basic knowledge that is important. We also teach them mathematics and English.”
Khaled, a jovial and cheeky six-year-old student from Class 2, shared with us how he enjoys going to school and especially enjoys lessons with Ms Thekrayat.
With passionate and big-hearted teachers like Ms Thekrayat guiding the children, we at Global Ehsan Relief have high hopes for the future of the mobile school in Jordan. We pray that the school will continue to reach out to and benefit as many refugee children as possible and empower them with knowledge.
Ms Thekrayat ended with this valuable sentiment that we believe is important when serving the community: “I see no difference between a Syrian or a Jordanian or a refugee. I treat all these children like my own siblings, like my little brothers.”
We invite you to join Global Ehsan Relief’s mission in opening new schools in underprivileged areas so that more children have access to quality education, and in turn cultivate a better future for themselves. We strongly believe in the power of education and we hope that you will play a part in this noble cause by contributing to our Ehsan Education Fund today.
