EDUCATION
The Super-Mom of Burj El Barajneh, Lebanon
Dec, 2018
“Amina has such a calm and serene energy,” marvels her Arabic language teacher, Nayla. “She never yells at her children and it seems like the three of them are always focused on learning.”
Amina comes from Rif Manbij, northeast of Aleppo, Syria. She spent her days working on her family’s farmlands, which provided their modest but adequate source of income. Like so many female farmers in the area, Amina dropped out of school early, in the fourth grade, leaving her almost illiterate.
When the war erupted in Syria in 2011, it obliterated agricultural lands across the country. Along with their farms, millions of families lost their food security. Amina’s childhood home and her family’s lands were among the losses. The crisis marked the end of Amina’s youth.
Amina was married at 19, a decision which seemed sensible to her father. He said he now had “one less mouth to feed,” Amina recalls. After the wedding, Amina moved in with her in-laws, where she gave birth to two children, a girl and later a boy in 2016.
When militants took control of the area in 2017, Amina’s family decided to flee Syria and seek refuge in Lebanon.
On their way to Lebanon, Amina and her family were stopped by an armed gang who took Amina’s husband without cause or reason. The family pushed on to the long and arduous walk across the Lebanese border, which was, as Amina describes it, a blackout, a “blindfolded journey”.
She arrived in Lebanon in a state of shock from her experiences fleeing the war. She felt devastated, depressed and hopeless. Amina still has no news of her husband’s fate, whether he is even alive or dead.
Like thousands of other Syrian refugees who have fled to Beirut, Amina and her in-laws rented a tiny flat, consisting of two small rooms, in the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj El Barajneh. Once there, she refused to leave the apartment for six months.
The camp could scarcely have been a starker departure from the rural farmlands where she had spent her whole life. She felt suffocated by the cramped houses and the lack of sunlight in the narrow concrete alleyways.
Little did Amina know how her life would soon change.
Basic Math and Literacy Classes Change Amina’s Outlook for the Future
One day, while out purchasing some vegetables, Amina’s daughter, holding her hand, pointed to a group of children going to school and asked her where they were going and why. It was a moment of clarity for Amina.
“At this moment,” she says, “I remembered that, first and foremost, I am a mother and that by giving up I was being selfish! I have a duty towards my children and I refuse to fail them.”
The only school Amina and her family could afford was the public school. It has afternoon shifts specifically for refugees. Knowing that the educational quality was limited, Amina was acutely aware that she had to supplement their in-class education by helping them with homework and exam preparations. But Amina was barely literate and in no position to help them with their studies.
While looking for work, Amina chanced upon Women’s Programs Association office where she met Reine, Anera’s youth program officer in Beirut. Reine then told Amina about Anera’s youth literacy and math program, which is operated in partnership with UNICEF, and how it could be a stepping stone towards a better future for her and her children.
On her first day at the literacy course, Amina asked if she could bring her children with her. “I had no choice,” she says. “I cannot leave them at home and I thought, perhaps we could all learn together!”
They call Amina “Super Mom” at the center: the mom who brings her children with her and never forgets to do her homework! “She never misses a single activity and has the best attendance rate,” Reine says.
“Amina has such a calm and serene energy,” marvels her Arabic language teacher, Nayla. “She never yells at her children and it seems like the three of them are always focused on learning.”
Amina recently completed the youth literacy and math course and has mastered the fundamentals of math, English and Arabic. Now when her daughter comes home from school, she is able to help her with homework.
Amina has just joined Anera’s life-skills program, where she is learning about communication skills and personal financial management. Next she plans to take an executive personal assistant course. She is determined to continue her education for the sake of her children and their future as a family.
“The more I learn, the more I can help my children,” Amina says. “One day I might be going with them to university…Why not?!”
One thing is certain, Amina’s job search has definitely changed. She had been looking for small jobs like cleaning shops or bagging groceries. Now she has set her sights on becoming a cashier or an administrative assistant, which are both better paying jobs.
Amina and her classmates are among thousands of youth who are benefiting from an Anera program offered in partnership with UNICEF, which is funded by the embassies of the Netherlands and Germany and UK AID.
The Women’s Programs Association is one of Anera’s core local implementing partners, providing capacity building and in-kind assistance to Palestinian and Syrian refugee women.
