Refugee and Migrant Children

 

Aimed at giving stability to the children through providing basic necessities, education and a family environment including recreational, sporting and artistic activities.

Improve access to education for children where most miss two or more years of education and face issues of languages.  Help provide access to fair employment fro refugee teachers.

 

 

Lebanon – Fratelli project -To meet the basic educational needs of children and young people who are Syrian refugees – Beirut/Sidon.

• Aims to give stability to the children through education and also through a family environment; recreational, sporting and artistic activities.

• Previous experience with Palestinian refugees whose camps have become permanent; Government forbids the foundation of refugee camps.  Most live in private accommodations or abandoned buildings ‘shelters’

• 9 of 10 families are unable to find work and depend on some kind of aid. (Only 23% of Syrians are working)

• Most miss two or more years of education and need supporting class to reach their level.  Language issue – Syria teaches in Arabic; Lebanon in English or French.

• Marist Brothers School has been closed since 1985 and used as a military headquarters.  Brothers are slowly rebuilding school facilities to host programs activities. 

 

 

Aleppo – Providing basic necessities for families

"And we, Marists that together with you we dream with a world of peace and justice, we want to tell you: For you we will continue on the way of solidarity, we will build for you a world without war, we will do everything possible so that your life may be a hymn to peace!” 

For him, for his parents and for many families, these commitments are reflected in our different projects. The “baskets of food” are distributed regularly. Each family also receives a health basket and 4000 Syrian pounds that represent the monthly payment for the electric generator.  At the beginning of summer, every member of our families received a new pair of shoes. 

The project “civilians wounded by war” this month has been able to save some persons hurt by the bomb- shells of the mortars that fell abundantly. 

In spite of the difficulty of providing a supply of milk, especially that for the children of less than one year of age, we have been able to assure it regularly to all the children who benefit of the Program “Drop of Milk”. 

Many families come to us asking that we help them to rent a house. Some families are obliged to abandon their neighborhood which suddenly has become a place of great danger and risk. 

The city has suffered numerous times for the lack of water. Our four vans go through all the neighborhoods to distribute 500 liters for each apartment. 

After some time of pause during the month of Ramadan, the Project “MIT” launched a new program of formation for the months of July and August.  The children of “I want to learn” have spent a week in a summer camp with the theme “Tinker bell». The older children among them have spent two nights. It was the first time that they lived this experience. 

The young adolescents have resumed their activities in the Project of the “Skill School”. They want “to dream and be creative”.   On June 6 we opened our new “Summer-Place” , where every afternoon, approximately 100 families come to our house to spend some leisure time... the children enjoy the playground that we have recently arranged and the parents meet to breathe some fresh air, take a cup of coffee and above all, find themselves in a safe place. 

I end with the words of Brother Emili, Superior General, when he addressed himself to the young people of the “Skill School” on the occasion of the launching of its theme of the summer activities: 

"You, young people, are called to listen to your hearts to discover which is your dream... You need moments of silence... Do not allow the Masters of war to rob your dreams...” 

 

 

South Africa – Refugee children unable to access schooling.

Afternoon bridge program – the coordinator and all teachers are qualified refugees.

Thousands of children, with official asylum permits, are not registered at schools because they cannot access state schools.

All families live below poverty line.  Many are unemployed or with low wage jobs; hunger is a real issue

Objectives:

• Provide education for refugee children unable to access state schools and ultimately help them access state schools.

• Employ and empower refugee teachers.

• Advocate around refugee issues in broader community.

 

 

 

Learn more about the International Marist Projects that will benefit from the National Day of Service:

1. Displaced and Vulnerable Children

2. Unreached and Underserved Poor Children

3. Refugee and Migrant Children