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Technology Expertise Increases Among Schoolteachers in Darayya
ADRA provides 50 teachers with training sessions on using technology as a teaching tool.
On 8 February 2024, Lara Ayash took a 15-minute drive from ADRA Syria’s headquarters in Damascus to monitor a teacher capacity building session at a community center in the suburb of Darayya, home to 135,000 people. This day was the conclusion of a two-week program, which saw a total of 50 teachers from Al Hikmeh School for Girls learn skills on using technology in the classroom. “The teachers loved the training. Almost none had attended such a program and almost none knew how to use a computer,” Ayash said.
Through the Provision and Restoration of Learning Spaces (PEARLS) project, ADRA provides students at Al Hikmeh School for Girls with different services aimed at keeping children in school who are at risk of dropping out. “I think ADRA’s non-formal education program will have a very big impact. We work with parents, children, and teachers all. We don’t give just one service; we give a lot of services. We’ll have a big impact,” Ayash noted.
Darayya was a conflict zone during the conflict, displacing the entire population for years. Once hostilities cooled, residents returned to a city where most houses, markets, schools, and community centers were destroyed. Given the poor economic conditions, many children sacrifice their education to provide income for their families—which for girls in Darayya sometimes takes the form of an early marriage.
“If [the PEARLS project] didn’t exist, I think the girls would be married away because of the economic situation and tradition, which is dangerous. By keeping the girls in school, we protect them,” Ayash said.
Luckily, homes, businesses, and public buildings have gradually been rebuilt. As more and more schools reopen, PEARLS’s teacher capacity training helps equip teachers with the tools they need to teach effectively.
“In Syria we need more computers and projectors in school,” Ayash said—and computer technology is indeed coming. Teachers are recognizing the need to know how to work with media, word processors, and other virtual spaces, especially given the massive educational needs in places like Darayya.
Latakia – Impact Story
Mariam Abd Al-Monam Haj Kasem, 25 years old.
When the first earthquake happened, when the bed start shaking, I woke up, I didn’t realize what is happening until I heard my mother shouting that we must leave the house, I remember that I started listen sounds from the walls cracking, I was afraid on my mother she has difficulty walking, I tried to help her until my father came and carried her out of the building.
We left our house and stayed in the mosque for two days, me and my 2 sisters were sitting in big hall, with about 25 family in the same hall, there was no privacy or the ability to receive this number of people, so we couldn’t stay in this place.
We tried to go home again, there were cracks in the walls, and my mother insisted on staying at home despite his situation, so we didn’t go back to the group shelters.
On Mar 20, another earthquake hit the city, the same scene I watched repeat again, but this time the fear was bigger, we all know our cracked house situation, my father ran and carried my mother, me and my sisters were running on the stairs but it was full of people the whole building were damaged, all people were evacuating their homes.
This time we all knew that we will never get back to our house, after we get to the street, the building collapsed, my veiled mother wasn’t putting her veil on, we walked out of our house without even shoes.
We again forced to go to the collective shelters, we went to the schools near to our house in Al-Ramel Al-Janobi, those schools became shelters since the first earthquake, the schools were full of people, so we spend the night in my uncle house, we couldn’t stay and add 5 more persons in his small house.
In the next morning, we went to “Mohamad Al-Shaikh School” we told the supervisor our situation, fortunately, she accepted to receive us in the shelter in spite of the large number of people in the center.
Two weeks later, they moved us to “Jamal Daood School”, the wash facilities are real bad state, and the weather cold at night, my mother couldn’t stay in the shelter or afford this life, she needs more treatment, so my father kept her in my uncle’s house, he also spends most of the day in his work, we are here alone me and my sisters.
Thanks for ADRA, they support us from the first day, they were providing meals, and now for Ramadan month, they distributing meals for the breackfast, I also received hygiene kit.
ADRA also provided solar water heating system and lighting system to the center, and they rehabilitate the bathrooms.
Now I’m searching for house for rent to leave the center, and live again with my mother.
Mohammad, Nour, and Ward- Sultan Bash Al Atrash, Aleppo
Mohammad and Warda and their five children live in a classroom at the Sultan Bash Atrash shelter. It is a tight space for the large family, but they are grateful for its safety after the devastation of the February 6 earthquakes.
Before the disaster, they struggled as they tried to pick up the pieces after the prolonged Syrian conflict. Prior to the war, the family had a good life. They were middle class, and Mohammad easily met his family’s needs.
However, when the war began, they lost their home in the attacks. The family then moved from one rented house to another. Then, to add to their woes, the fifth place they called home was destroyed in the earthquake.
Mohammad and Warda felt they had reached the end of their lives. They did not know where to go and what to do next to keep their family safe and provide for their children. Also, Nour had to put her dream of becoming a doctor on hold as she can no longer attend school. Her younger siblings are still afraid of doing activities that prevent them from running outside in case another earthquake strikes. Currently, the family depends on humanitarian assistance to cover their basic needs.
Mohammad was reaching a point of desperation. Life was already difficult for the family, and with the added catastrophe, he fell into depression. Without being able to provide for his family as before, he felt he had lost his purpose for living.
Tears came to Mohammad and Warda’s eyes as they remembered the recent tragedy.
After the dust settled from the earthquake, the family was assigned to the Sultan Bash Atrash shelter with other families who lost their homes. At the shelter, they were registered to receive food assistance, NFIs and hygiene supplies. They also met ADRA staff whose warm smiles, care and assistance began to give them hope. Mohammed began drawing again – a hobby that he enjoys. Thanks to the assistance Mohammad and Warda are receiving, their family can eat meat and drink milk, which were completely unaffordable before, and keep their family clean and healthy.
They thank ADRA for supporting them in a moment when they felt hopeless.
