Confronting mortality: Ben Quilty and Richard Flanagan witness Syria refugee crisis. It was mid-winter in Europe when Ben Quilty and Richard Flanagan found themselves in a small, stifling room on the Greek island of Lesbos, sitting across from a young Syrian couple who the previous day had buried their only child.
The "overwhelming sense of grief", Quilty said, "was thick in the air in that little house". The four-year-old boy Ramo drowned as the family crossed the short stretch of water between Turkey and Greece, hoping for a better life in Europe. More than a million people have made that same journey since beginning of 2015. Most survive, but hundreds don't. The little boy is among around 400 people who so far this year have died crossing the Aegean Sea. "I felt that that mother was in danger of doing something to herself," Quilty said.
"She'd lost her home, her homeland, her belongings, and then she'd lost her only child. " Yet, the grieving parents welcomed the visitors' presence. "They wanted their story told", he said. "They all want their story told. The life vest racket. Art with Syrian Refugees: The Za’atari Project.
As the Syrian War rages on, desperate civilians continue to pour across the borders into neighboring countries.
While they have escaped the death and destruction of war, many refugees now find themselves in desolate refugee camps across the region. Other refugees pack into towns and cities, straining services and resources, leading to strained tensions with local populations. Lives are on hold and official work is prohibited.
While international humanitarian organizations scramble to provide food, shelter and medical care to refugees, other critical needs often fall through the cracks, such as educational and creative activities for youth to focus on, trauma relief and mentorship programs. Using art to create a brighter future for Syrian children - Unicef UK Blog. Amal* painting at her Unicef-supported art classes.
Amal* still has nightmares about the bombs in Syria every night. In her nightmares she often dreams that armed men are chasing her family and she wakes up crying most mornings. But when Amal, 11, paints in her Unicef art class in Za’atari refugee camp she says it helps her forget about the bad things that happened in Syria. Life Through the Lens of Syria’s Uprooted Teens – PROOF. “To Whom It May Concern”: These words I read every day on my UNHCR asylum seeker certificate.
I’m a Syrian child. The only thing I hope in the world is to wake up from this terrible nightmare and to return to my friends, to return to my life, to my home before this war. And if the time goes back, I just want to play with the people who lost their lives, and I will ask them to leave Syria. I never thought that I would live in a tent, but that’s alright. I never thought I would not listen to my English teacher, who I love so much in Syria, but that’s alright. How can technology improve the worst refugee crisis of our time?
Last year, the United Nations Refugee Agency reported that the number of refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons worldwide exceeded 50 million, the most since World War II.
The majority of refugees coming from Afghanistan and Syria are fleeing war-torn communities, and are running toward neighboring countries, often facing extreme poverty and limited opportunities to rebuild their lives. Technology has the potential to ameliorate the service and information gap that impacts refugee lives. 7 art initiatives that are transforming the lives of refugees. Vodafone 'Instant Classroom' is digital school in a box for refugees. The Vodafone Foundation has unveiled a portable "Instant Classroom" that it hopes will give 15,000 child refugees across Africa access to tablet-based education.
The digital school in a box, which has been unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, can be set up in 20 minutes and can be used in classrooms where there is no electricity. The Foundation has partnered with UNHCR to bring the Instant Classroom to 12 schools in Kenya, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the next 12 months. Each Instant Classroom is shipped in a secure and robust case that weighs 52kg and comes equipped with a laptop, 25 tablets pre-loaded with educational software, a projector, a speaker and a hotspot modem with 3G connectivity.
The Classroom can be charged as a single unit from one power source in 6-8 hours, after which it can be used in a for an entire day without access to electricity. Vodafone Foundation. Coding classes open new doors for Syrian refugees - News from Al Jazeera. Amman - Sitting in a large, airy room filled with colourful beanbags and tangles of computer wires, Moamer Swaida listens intently as an instructor explains the basics of web design.
Swaida, 40, has not had a proper job since he left his position as a maths teacher in Deraa, Syria, and fled to northern Jordan four years ago. He hopes that this week's classes at Amman's King Hussein Business Park will finally change that. "This will give me a better chance of finding work," Swaida tells Al Jazeera in a soft voice. "Syrians cannot work in most jobs in Jordan, so this will allow me to freelance for foreign companies abroad. " Swaida is one of roughly one million Syrian refugees living in Jordan, all of whom are prohibited from working in white-collar jobs as local unemployment exceeds 14 percent.
How mobile phones are helping to take education to hard-to-reach children. How do you teach a child if there isn't a teacher, textbooks or a classroom available?
You take the lessons to them - and one way is by mobile phone or mini tablet. The number of children around the world using handheld devices is growing, so agencies and organisations are taking advantage of technology to deliver education where it is most needed. How can technology improve the worst refugee crisis of our time? In UN Refugee Camps, Sports Soothe Trauma for Children. Syria's refugees: Girls use photography to document life in the Zaatari camp. For three months, a group of Syrian girls aged 14 to 18-years-old from Za'atari Camp - the biggest refugee camp for Syrians, which can now be counted the fourth biggest city in Jordan - participated in a media workshop to gain artistic and technical training in photography and video, with encouragement to reflect on and voice their own stories and those of their surrounding community.
With cameras, microphones and pens in hand, the girls set out to document their everyday lives – how it looks, feels and sounds from the ground, at the heart of their world. One of the young artists, who has just started learning to read and write, named the body of work 'Waves of Childhood.' All photographs and writing in the following slides were produced by the girls. Re-engineering the refugee camp – a moonshot project. Daniel Kerber wants to improve the living conditions of refugee camps.
In general refugee camps are designed and built to be temporary bases but often end up being long term habitats with long term problems. In Kerber’s SolveforX talk, Re-engineering refugee camps and slums, he throws out some staggering statistics about Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp. 100,000 people live in the camp that has the landmass of 1,000 football fields. $500,000 is needed to maintain basic services – 3.5 million liters of water are trucked in every day. Summer temperatures rise to 110 degrees and it snows in the winter.
Graham Brown-Martin. I knew that I was going to get along with Rana Madani, the Deputy CEO of the Jordan Education Initiative (JEI), when we initially spoke on Skype whilst I was in London scoping out the visit to Jordan. She wanted to make it clear that I wasn’t coming to Jordan to make comparisons with westernised implementations of technology in schools and that I would understand the context in which the JEI were working. As it turned out Rana had nothing to worry about and our visit was one of the most enlightening yet with genuinely forward thinking and well implemented digital strategies that were entirely relevant to the context and cultural aspects of the nation. The passion for positive change and improvement of the Jordanian education system was palpable amongst Rana and the JEI team as well as all of the teaching staff, principals and learners whom we met.
The 100 Discovery Schools were chosen in Ammam based around their location to the data centre and broadband provision at that time. Syrian Refugees Speak Out Through 'Dear World' Project (PHOTOS) After more than two years of fighting, Syria’s refugee crisis has grown to epic proportions. More than 2 million people have fled the war-torn country since March 2011, seeking refuge in neighboring nations. Another 5 million are estimated to be displaced within Syria. Displaced but finding new purpose in Jordan's Zaatari camp. Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan — Saly Emad el-Moullen is a Syrian refugee herself, but she has found new purpose in Jordan by helping with an Oxfam project that seeks to give children of a stake in their temporary home through art.
In this camp of 120,000, children make up roughly half the population. Although 30,000 of them are school-age, only 6,000 or so are in school. A third school is being constructed, but there are will still be far too few classrooms for so many little faces which, despite the tragedies of war, still show an eager spark of curiosity. On a recent day Ms. El-Moullen oversaw a group of youngsters painting tiles for the bathrooms they and their families use. Voices from Syria: 'This camp is a paradise compared to life back home' The father: ‘I used to lie to my children and tell them grass is edible’ Hassan* has four children.
He and his family lived under siege in Syria for several months before fleeing to the Bekaa valley in Lebanon My family and I came from Deir Ezzor. I was with my wife, my three boys and my little daughter. When the shelling was happening the children were getting scared; so scared they were wetting themselves. Educating Syrian Youth in Jordan: Holistic Approaches to Emergency Response. In Zaatari refugee camp, early marriage often trumps school. Football in the Za'atari refugee camp - UEFA Foundation. FACTSHEET ZaatariRefugeeCamp April. Syrian civil war: Zaatari Refugee Camp now 9th largest city in Jordan. Five stories of hope from Zaatari refugee camp. Education in the Second Largest Refugee Camp in the World. Children and Education in Refugee Camps. In a refugee camp, education is the only hope. Inside Zaatari refugee camp: the fourth largest city in Jordan.
Syrians at Zaatari camp: 'We can't live here forever' Back to school: In Za’atari camp, all children can access education in 2015-2016 school year. From Syria to Zaatari glimpses of refugees in Jordan. Clouds Over Sidra. Syrian refugee girl story - one year later, what has changed? Experience and Evidence: How War Affects Syrian Girls. Syrians: Hopes and fears for the next five years - CARE Australia - Syrians: Hopes and fears for the next five years. The Challenge of Education. Children and Education in Refugee Camps. UNHCR - The Struggle for Equality. UNHCR - The Ragdolls and the Clay Oven. 3 Million Reasons Why Your Heart Will Break In One Video. The Zaatari Refugee Camp — LIVED. Zaatari's children: life in a refugee camp - picture essay.
Life in Za’atari refugee camp, Jordan’s fourth biggest city. Voices from the Field. Zaatari: the Syrian city in exile. UNHCR - Zaatari: Thoughts from a Refugee Camp. Children of Syria show their Happy side in music video. Syria Refugee Crisis. Syria refugee crisis FAQ: What you need to know. Why Are People Fleeing Syria? 9 Horrific Facts, Photos That Explain The Syrian Refugee Crisis. Education without borders: teaching Syria's lost generation. These Are The Most Powerful Photographs Of The Syrian Refugee Crisis In 2015 - BuzzFeed News. Syria's Civil War – the latest News from Al Jazeera.
Syria: The story of the conflict. Syrian Refugees. Syrian Civil War Map. Waiting: Help refugees restart their lives. Quick facts: What you need to know about the Syria crisis. The promise of education brings Syrian and Jordanian girls together. Even war won’t stop these girls from making their dreams come true – Uprooted – Medium. TIGER Girls-Educating Syrian Refugee Girls. One girl's exceptional bravery in the face of five years of conflict in Syria - Unicef UK Blog. Behind the scenes of Soccer Aid with Muhammed - Unicef UK Blog. A Teenage Refugee Champions Girls’ Education. Syrian refugees: the women fleeing domestic violence. How to Educate a Generation of Syrian Refugees? Makeshift Classrooms and the Teacher Next Door by Samantha Schmidt.
Girls Inspire at the Zaatari Refugee Camp: Why All Children Deserve an Education – Medium. Barriers to Education for Syrian Refugee Children in Jordan. Muzzon al-Mellehan Named in BBC's 100 Most Inspiring Women. The rise of the Syrian child bride - UNICEF Australia. International Rescue Committee (IRC) Tackling barriers to education for Afghan girls. Education. World Vision International. Syrian Refugees: “Girls my age should be wearing school uniforms, not wedding dresses” - CARE Australia - Syrian Refugees: “Girls my age should be wearing school uniforms, not wedding dresses”
Meet The 'Malala' Of Syria - BBC News. From PhD to Refugee: Ayat's Story - CARE Australia - From PhD to Refugee: Ayat’s Story. Violence and child marriage: The many risks refugee girls face. EVERY LAST GIRL REPORT FINAL. One Girl Under 15 Married Every Seven Seconds.