–Who
can come up with a word which contains the letter ‘O’?
Eager hands and jumping bodies cannot sit still any longer:
–I know, I know, Miss, choose me, choose me, me! Enthusiastic
4th grade girls are competing to be selected and write a word
on the blackboard; – Me-me-me! The teacher selects one
of the girls while the others drop back onto their chairs, recharging
for the next round of words. Nour, aged 11, meticulously marks
the worn out board with her perfect handwriting: – O…u...r...s
– ours (bear)! Nour is one of the 25 girls who over the
past couple of months have received homework assistance from
Red Cross youth in Lebanon.
“Planning to make a difference” –
continued
Since December 2005, the Spears centre has been one of three
Youth Centres in the Lebanese Red Cross Youth (LRCY) participating
in the Planning Project. The project was established together
with our Youth Delegate predecessors. As a Youth Delegate this
year, my responsibility has been to develop and run the project
in cooperation with volunteers of the LRCY.
The Planning Project is mainly based on Strategy 2010, aiming
to help the most vulnerable people through a more focused and
targeted planning of Red Cross activities. Through workshops
and subsequent discussions on poverty, vulnerability and capacity,
sustainability and Red Cross/Red Crescent principles, our goal
has been to help the youth of Lebanese Red Cross develop new
ideas and tools within project planning.
An idea is born
An essential part of the project has been the planning and carrying
out of a needs assessment in the local community of the youth
centre. By using different tools and work methods, like interviews,
the youth of the Spears Centre identified that one place where
their efforts were needed, was in a public school for girls.
In poor parts of Lebanon, public schools struggle with a lack
of resources, and this is especially harmful for pupils who
have difficulties in reading and writing. Parents here, unlike
their peers in wealthier social strata, do not have the possibility
to pay for a tutor for their children after school hours. Several
of the parents are themselves illiterate and cannot assist their
children with homework in core subjects like Arabic, French
and math. Often, the result is that pupils have to take the
same grade again.
From needs to action
The Spears youth centre has 30 members and is located in the
heart of Beirut. They learned about the girls’ school
when they were carrying out a needs assessment to learn how
they could be more useful to their local community. They talked
to the principal of the school. She told them about the pupils
who have to repeat grades, sometimes two and three times. Some
of the 12 year-old girls cannot spell their own name. –
We can do something about this, said the Spears youth. They
decided to provide support for the weakest students. Through
their work, the volunteers and their friends are contributing
to the girls moving on to next grade this autumn.
Rewarding work
Over the last couple of months, the volunteers of Spears centre
have visited the school twice a week for three hours every time.
The different volunteers are responsible for different subjects.
Carine Koleilat (17) teaches French. – I have given them
a small exercise, she explains. – They are working hard
and are very energetic; they are trying so hard to get their
reward in the form of small stickers. When asked about her motivation
to do this job, Carine answers: – It is a very satisfying
job. You feel that you can make a difference in these children’s
lives. It gives you a feeling of accomplishment and fulfilment.
Carine and the other Red Cross volunteers are teaching basic
knowledge. When they have the right answer for an exercise,
the girls are rewarded with glossy stickers. And the girls keep
coming back.
Popularity, a challenge
– We have already expanded our programme once! The pupils
were so pleased with it that they told all their friends about
it, and then they also wanted to come! Rana el Baba (23), the
coordinator of the School Support Programme tells me. –
However, we are only a small number of volunteers, and even
though the children, their parents and the school principal
are very pleased with our work, we can only dedicate a certain
amount of time in the school. We are all busy students with
part-time jobs and other Red Cross obligations. Doing a needs
assessment in the community provided us with important information.
We used it to plan a project where we join our own capacities
with the needs of our community. We see that our contribution
means something, Rana tells me smiling.
Making a difference?
In Wiam Saab’s class, it is time for Arabic. The Arabic
alphabet is difficult, not only for foreigners! It consists
mainly of consonants, the vowels are indicated by apostrophe-like
symbols, and it can be quite a challenge to distinguish the
sounds of a, e, o and i. Still, the girls are eagerly impatient,
they suggest an answer and if it is incorrect, they try again.
Meanwhile some of them are in dispute over the sponge –
it is an honourable task to wipe off the blackboard. The pupils
like and respect their Red Cross teachers. In these lessons
the number of pupils is fewer than the usual classes, which
means that each student gets more time and attention from the
teacher and they are allowed to ask the same question again
and again – as many times as needed. Maybe some day, the
girls will look back at their time with the Spears youth of
the Red Cross. Maybe they will then say “they didn’t
only plan to make a difference - they made a difference”.
|
 |
 |
|
|
| "I
know, I know!" The girls are eager to answer to the
questions of the Red Cross volunteer teacher.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Rewards
are given in the form of stickers.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
The
after-school assistance of the Lebanese Red Cross Youth
is a popular programme.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
"Have
a nice day!"
|
|
|
 |
|
|
"Teaching
the girls makes us feel proud," says the young volunteers.
|
|
News
