(Zaman Al Wasl)- A prominent Syrian gril has been selected by UNICEF as a candidate for the International Children's Peace Prize one of Un’s awards to individuals who fight for children’s rights, raise awareness and spread hope throughout the world.
Najwa Fattouh, 16, was selected due to her activities in educating Syrian children in one the educational centers in Lebanon’s Beirut and her efforts to give hope to others after she was prevented from completing her education due to war and her displacement.
Unofficial statistics indicate that an estimated 250,000 Syrian children, of school age, are out of school in Lebanon. Speaking to Zaman al-Wasl, Fattouh highlighted some of the difficulties she faced accessing education in Lebanon.
Fattouh, 16, was born in the town of Qusayr in Homs countryside. She and her family were forced to leave in 2013 because of the war, and the family fled to Lebanon. Despite the upheavals and instability, she continued her education. She explained that in Lebanon they moved to the Chatila camp for Palestinian refugees. She tried to attend school there but did not succeed because she needed documentation to prove her level of schooling for her to continue her studies in Lebanon. In contrast to the difficulties she faced, her younger siblings were able to enter school and finish their education.
Fattouh explained that faced with the prospect of long periods of time without anything to do and not wanting to sit at home, she went “SB Over Seas” at the Bukra Ahla Center near her home. The Center offers classes to Syrian children who do not have education opportunities and helps women to learn sewing, knitting and other vocational skills.
She offered to volunteer at the Center to help the children coming to the Center with their studies, thus providing the assistance that she was denied. The Center accepted, and Fattouh became their youngest volunteer. After undergoing several training sessions, she began teaching Arabic, mathematics and English to the children as well as organizing artistic workshops for them. Day by day she developed herself with these children who, she says, taught her many things and her family encouraged her every step of the way.
After a year of volunteer work, Fattouh was able to secure the necessary papers to equate her school certificate with the Lebanese school certificates. She was able to attend the Gibran Tueni school in Beirut, where she is currently in the 11th grade.
Fattouh pointed out that she faced difficulties when she first entered the school because she was the only Syrian in the class. She said she was quiet and avoided mixing with her classmates at the beginning of her studies and spent her breaks reading novels and books. She continued that after a short time she became more engaged with her classmates because of her social nature and her outstanding performance in class. Despite her preoccupation with finishing high school, she continued volunteering with the Bukra Ahla Center. The Center nominated her for the Children Peace Award for 2017, an award given by UNICEF to children and young people between 11-18 from 55 countries around the world. The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in the United States in mid-November and the winner will be appointed a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.
In addition to helping refugee children to learn and integrate into the host society, Fattouh participated in the production of several documentaries that were shown in Beirut and she has worked on many workshops about cinematic production.
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