I've raised £1000 to equip vulnerable kindergarten children in Lebanon with winter clothes
Organised by Laura Crameri
Story
Lebanese Winter is round the corner in the mountain village of Kfar Nabrakh in Chouf, Lebanon, but most of the Syrian refugee children aged 5 to 6 that are enrolled in the kindergarten set up by AMURT Lebanon lack adequate clothing. Life has become very difficult in Lebanon over the last two years. More than half the population is now living below the poverty line, for Syrian refugees families numbers are even at 90 percent. This means they struggle to cover their basic needs like food, health, shelter and education. Buildings are badly insulated here and heating is expensive, especially since fuel prices have started rising exponentially this summer. Already now it's necessary to wear jackets inside the kindergarten building, however most of the families cannot afford to buy the right clothes to keep their children warm over the next months.
An estimated 1.5 million Syrian have found refuge in Lebanon since the war in Syria started in 2011, this amounts to more than one forth of the population of this small country. Over the last two years, Lebanon has experienced a financial and economic meltdown which has hit the Syrian refugee population the hardest. Limited access to education for children has been exacerbated by school closures due to political unrest and the COVID crisis. Last year, school attendance of Syrian refugee children has dropped by 25 percent whereas one third of them have never been to school.
AMURT Lebanon has been working since 2012 in Chouf offering emergency assistance to vulnerable individuals, supporting Lebanese public schools with equipment, providing psychosocial support for children, setting up community kitchens to create livelihoods for the local population as well as offering vocational training and opportunities for young people in the area.
With your help, whether small or big, we'll be able to buy warm clothes for the 110 Syrian refugee children which just started a year of kindergarten preparing them to enter Lebanese public school. 8 dollars pay for a pair of shoes for one child and 10 dollars for a jacket.
I am currently volunteering at AMURT Lebanon, supporting the kindergarten teachers as well as the administration. To find out more about what they do, check out:
