Our help and assistance program dedicated to children in Aleppo has been running for seven uninterrupted years. Its continuance is possible exclusively thanks to the generosity of our donors who regularly support the University’s charges. The programme’s teachers care for the children regardless of the situation or events in the city or the country. Each amount donated to help the youngest children in Aleppo is used to provide educational and psychological support and to give the children a much-needed sense of security.
The best way to thank you, our dear donors, is through the words of one of the teachers from Aleppo, Mary, who wrote to us:
You have cared for the needs of the children in our care. You have offered your thoughtful care to give them a sense of security, making them trust that there are people in the world who care about them.
Education and psychological care for children
In the last school year, over 250 children aged 6-17 signed up for classes at the University. 168 children became students, with roughly equal proportions of girls and boys. All children commit to regular attendance. Each educational line at the University is developed by an academic teacher with the appropriate specialization, and each edition ends with a graduation ceremony, coupled with presentations of our students’ projects. Once their preferences and skills have been carefully profiled, children choose an educational path, from among medicine, media, robotics, and life sciences and mathematics. All children also attend programming classes and regular English lessons. But, while developing their curiosity of the world and preparing them to participate in Syria’s new post-war society, the University does not neglect integration, communication, and psychological support. The mental well-being of children is constantly monitored, and in separate classes, conducted by certified specialists, they learn how to work with emotions and reactions, and how to protect themselves from sexual abuse and mistreatment. All this is done in constant cooperation with parents, for whom separate workshops are organized in areas such as active listening and communication.
St. Nicholas helping hands – our donors
The Children University continues to operate and help only thanks to the generosity of our donors – people with open hearts, ready to send support “to the other side of the world” in a gesture of empathy and trust in the power of real help. We will never stop thanking them for this support. But we also ask, from the bottom of our hearts, for continued generosity and faith in the power of helping children: for many of them, the University has become a refuge from an uncertain tomorrow and persistent threats. Together, we multiply the good around us. Thank you for joining the ranks of donors!
Today’s every-day life in Aleppo
We can only imagine everyday life in Aleppo – a city ruined and wrecked by years of war, still deprived of electricity and water. Associations with images from Ukraine come to mind. But for us, they are just news flashes from distant places. For the children and their parents living in Aleppo, it is often a daily struggle for survival in a place from which 650,000 people fled last fall alone. 16,700,000 people in Syria need humanitarian aid. The destruction of thousands of schools has meant that almost 2,500,000 children in Syria do not attend school. The call today is not only for immediate aid, but also for long-term support for families rebuilding their lives in Syria after the fall of the Assad family’s rule. The country is undergoing socio-economic change. The scale of destruction and prolonged international isolation make the situation on the ground dire. Rebuilding the economy, trade, and restoring supplies of basic products remain a challenge. The problems faced by Syrians affect every area of life, with extreme poverty and food insecurity topping the list. The rapid rise in energy, food, and medicine prices means that even basic products are beyond the reach of most families. Over 12,000,000 people do not know where their next meal will come from. Healthcare facilities also need to be rebuilt. Attacks on infrastructure have led to the closure or reduced operation of as many as 38% of hospitals. More than half of the water supply network is not functioning. Problems with energy supply further reduce the efficiency of the system. The labour market is in collapse; unemployment reaches 50-70%, and in some regions even 90%.
If you would like to donate to Children University programme in Aleppo and to support the needs of its students, feel free to use the form under this article – or transfer money directly to our dedicated account:
SWIFT Code: PKOP PL PW
IBAN (EUR): PL95 1240 6003 1978 0010 8524 6705
IBAN (USD): PL30 1240 6003 1787 0010 8524 6561
IBAN (GBP): PL02 1240 6003 1789 0010 8524 6965
PayPal: [email protected]
