Birds of Hope
2013-Present
There are over one million Syrian refugees living in Lebanon, more than three-quarters of whom subsist on less than US$4 per day, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch warns that extreme povery is not their only challenge. Roughly half of school-aged Syrian refugee kids don't attend school, due to lack of funding, institutional failures or cultural barriers. That's tens of thousands of children stripped of a basic human right: The right to learn.
In 2013, For The Unseen partnered with local operatives to start the Birds of Hope (in Arabic, Tuyoor Al-Amal) school for Syrian children. They started with 350 students. Today, the school has 3,000 students and a staff of nearly 100. Their success is inspiring, but the school gets by largely due to outside support. A percentage of the children who attend are orphans who rely completely on institutional funding. For The Unseen wants to see them protected and the school continue to grow. If that speaks to you, consider sending us a donation for the school today.
2022 Academic Year: A Look Back at Last Year’s Impact
2022 was a challenging year for many.
We saw people across the globe struggle with conflicts, economic turmoil, and the devastating effects of climate change and these issues will no doubt continue throughout 2023.
Nevertheless, through those challenges and many others, For The Unseen continued to support the students of the Birds of Hope school.
Therefore, we’ve created this infographic to share some of our achievements last year and to give you an idea of the impact of your support.
-
Due to the unprecedented nature of COVID-19 and its impact on the entire world, the upcoming school year for Birds of Hope will look different too.
Following the decision of Lebanon’s ministry of education to delay the academic school year to the 12th of October, we are still in the process of registering new students.
So far, we have 1600 students registered for both school sites and the number of registrations are increasing daily and expected to reach last years enrollment of 2000.
Our team size is the same as last year, with 64 staff supporting our school sites.
The usual cost to operate the school per student is $40 for the entire academic year, a sum that is still difficult for the majority of our students due to the current economic situation in Lebanon.
Due to unique challenges related to adjusting to new procedures to keep both staff and students safe from COVID-19, the cost per student had risen to $100 a year.
Adhering to the ministry of education’s standards and criteria for health and safety, we have applied social distance measures to divide students into two groups attending 3 days a week along with 3 days of remote learning from home.
Based on our current budget and available funds, we are currently able to run our schools for the next three to four months.
To reach the end of the 2021 academic year, which is on June 12th, a gift of any size would make a considerable difference in our ability to continue providing an education for our students and support the refugee community here in Lebanon.
We appreciate you taking the time to learn more about our work here at Birds of Hope schools.