Skip to content
Anera
  • Who We Are
    • Column1
      • About Us
      • Our Staff
      • Anera FAQ
    • Column2
      • Resources
      • 2024 Annual Report
      • Contact Us
  • Where We Work
    • Column1
      • Palestine
        • Gaza
        • West Bank
      • Lebanon
      • Jordan
  • What We Do
    • Column1
      • Agriculture
      • Health
      • Community
      • Education
    • Column2
      • Water
      • Emergency
      • Stories
      • Videos
  • How to Help
    • Column1
      • Fundraise
      • Become a Social Media Ambassador
      • Attend an Event
      • Donor Portal
    • Column2
      • Give Monthly
      • More Ways to Give
      • Zakat Giving
      • Anera Leadership Circle
  • Blog
  • Donate
    • Monthly Giving
    • Zakat Giving
    • More Ways to Give
Anera
Donor Portal
  • Who We Are
    • Column1
      • About Us
      • Our Staff
      • Anera FAQ
    • Column2
      • Resources
      • 2024 Annual Report
      • Contact Us
  • Where We Work
    • Column1
      • Palestine
        • Gaza
        • West Bank
      • Lebanon
      • Jordan
  • What We Do
    • Column1
      • Agriculture
      • Health
      • Community
      • Education
    • Column2
      • Water
      • Emergency
      • Stories
      • Videos
  • How to Help
    • Column1
      • Fundraise
      • Become a Social Media Ambassador
      • Attend an Event
      • Donor Portal
    • Column2
      • Give Monthly
      • More Ways to Give
      • Zakat Giving
      • Anera Leadership Circle
  • Blog
  • Donate
    • Monthly Giving
    • Zakat Giving
    • More Ways to Give
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
  • Where We Work
  • How to Help
  • Resources
  • Success Stories
  • Videos
  • Blog
  • 2024 Annual Report
Donate
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.

Women farmers in Amina's hometown.
Women farmers in Amina's hometown.

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.

View From Amina's window in Burj El-Barajneh, urban Palestinian refugee camp, in Lebanon.
View From Amina's window in Burj El-Barajneh, urban Palestinian refugee camp, in Lebanon.

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.

Refugees, whose schooling was put on hold, learn Arabic in Burj El Burajneh.
Refugees, whose schooling was put on hold, learn Arabic in Burj El Burajneh.

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 in class with her son.
Amina in class with her son.

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 in next to a banner on which she written a public health message.
Amina in class next to a banner on which she written a public health message.

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.

SHARE THIS STORY

Related Stories

Basic Informal Education Programs Brighten the Future for Out-of-School Youths

Read More →

English Language Courses Open Door to Success

Read More →

$219 M

worth of aid to serve millions of Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians and Jordanians, in calendar year 2024

Contact Us

WHO WE ARE

Site Map

  • Who We Are
  • Where We Work
  • What We Do
  • How to Help
  • Donor Portal
  • Blog
  • Resources
  • Stories
  • Join Our Team
  • Contact Us

More About Anera

Anera addresses the development and relief needs of refugees and vulnerable communities in Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan. 

Anera is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (tax-ID number 52-0882226). Your gift is secure and tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Follow Us on Social Media

© Anera, 2025 | Print This Page | Site Credit
  • FAQ
  • TRUSTED & RESPECTED
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SITE MAP
 Share This
 Facebook
 WhatsApp
 LinkedIn
 Email

Share on Mastodon