A syrian refugee child in front of his tent in Zaatari refugee camp from Shutterstock.com
The Singapore Muslim community is contributing a total of US$232,600 (S$342,569) in aid to Syrian refugees living in camps and dwellings located in Jordan and Lebanon, according to an announcement made by The Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF).
Noting the severe winter conditions enveloping the region, mosques in Singapore in collaboration with the RLAF had mounted an appeal for donations from the Singapore Muslim community to show care and compassion towards the ongoing suffering of the Syrian refugees there.
The Syrian internal conflict and war which has gone on for nearly six years has inflicted a heavy toll on its population. More than four million Syrians fled the country and sought refuge in foreign lands such as Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt and later to Europe.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), more than half are young children below 17 years of age. Jordan is hosting about 650,000 refugees while Lebanon is hosting more than 1 million.
The high concentration of refugees in the country has placed a tremendous strain on the resources of those nations which are also struggling to meet the needs of their own population.
RLAF is collaborating with the UNHCR in Jordan and Lebanon. The equivalent of US$100,000 (S$147,278) of the collection will enable the UNHCR to extend the provision of much needed supply of gas to Syrian refugees in Al-Azraq camp in Jordan to keep them warm, safe and go on with their daily living needs to survive the winter.
Makeshift school in an informal refugee settlement in Qab Elias, Zahle District, Bekaa Valley ; As of 29 February 2016, Lebanon hosts 1,055,984 registered Syrian refugees. Source: Syria Regional Refugee Response Portal.
The remaining fund amounting to US$132,600 (S$195,291) will be used to support UNHCR’s Outreach Educational programme, Parent Engagement and Homework Support programmes, to ensure access to education for the Syrian children in many different locations in Lebanon.
With this assistance, parents will be empowered to assist in the learning process. It is hoped that the children will be able to discover the joy of learning and that they will find new confidence after the ordeal they face as refugees.
KG1 students in FAID (Baabda, Mount Lebanon) in Arabic class with their teacher. They are practicing one of the activities where each student gets cards including the names of students present at class and distributed each name with its pronunciation. The teacher helps students to pronounce correctly, and she communicates with them through a microphone. Each student has a receiver programmed to suit his hearing abilities. ; FAID is a non-profit (Presidential decree No. 10680), non-sectarian and non-governmental organization with no political affiliation, established to provide assistance, education, services and other resources for deaf children, regardless of their religion, gender or ethnic origin.
FAID was founded in 1957 by Anglican clergyman Rev. Dr. Arie J. Andeweg. Proven to be one of the most prominent deaf education centers in the Middle East, FAID has educated numerous deaf children (aged 3-18) through the years of its service.
Further information could be obtained at 6359 1430 / 6359 1404 or by email.
