Loading ...Middle Eastern Evening A Benefit For Refugees In Beirut
BRITTANY FELDOTT
The Church of the Messiah in Woods Hole will host the second annual Middle Eastern Evening to raise funds for a Women’s Learning Center in the Burj el Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon. The same event last year single-handedly raised enough support to establish and sustain a school for refugee children that reached 100 students during the 2014-2015 school year.
Without those funds, most of the refugee children would have received no education at all last year.
The fundraiser, which will be held Saturday, July 25, from 5 to 7 PM, is particularly dear to West Falmouth native Lucia I. Mock Munoz de Luna, who earned her master’s degree and certificate of advanced study from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and now works as a counselor at the American Community School at Beirut. Outside of her work as a counselor, Ms. Mock volunteers at the Women’s Learning Center in Burj el Barajneh, teaching English and providing trauma training to educators there.
Founded in 1948 to house Palestinian refugees, the one-square kilometer refugee camp has since become inundated with families seeking refuge from the Syrian Civil War.
Although the camp is supported by the UN Relief and Works Agency, Ms. Mock said it is overcrowded and resources are spread thin. “The situation is so dire with the Syrian and Lebanon crisis,” she said.
The Women’s Learning Center within the refugee camp offers opportunities for women to learn English and develop other practical skills for leading sustainable lives within the camp.
Last year, the Middle Eastern Evening raised $15,000 for the Women’s Learning Center. With those funds, Ms. Mock and other leading volunteers at the center were able to meet a growing need in the community for children’s education.
The center hired three full-time teachers, rented a building for classes, and kept the program running five days a week, at no cost to the refugee families. Although the program started with fewer than 25 students, it quickly grew into a “make-shift school” of more than 100 children, Ms. Mock said.
The program closely resembles a “wraparound school,” a school in which the socio-emotional needs of the children are nurtured, as well as the academic needs. Teachers in the program pay particular attention to the mental health of the children and work closely with parents to ensure the home is a healthy learning environment.
This program would look very progressive in the United States, Ms. Mock said, but is particularly important in the refugee environment where 95 percent of the children have experienced some form of trauma prior to their arrival.
Ms. Mock said that relatively small amounts of funding can go a long way in an area in such need as the Burj el Barajneh refugee camp.
“It’s a small help,” Ms. Mock said, “but it’s making a huge difference in the lives of 100 kids.”
Ms. Mock and a fellow volunteer will give a presentation on the school’s progress and future plans for the program at this year’s Middle Eastern Evening. Homemade Lebanese food will be served at the event, and a live band will perform Arabic music.
Also at the event will be an art exhibit by Falmouth High School students featuring portraits of students in the Burj el Barajneh refugee camp.
The art project was led by rising junior Josephine R. Brennan, who was familiar with the refugee camp as a member of the FHS Model UN Club.
Members of the Model UN Club have organized fundraisers for the refugee camp in the past, but Ms. Brennan said she wanted to develop a more meaningful connection with the refugees.
“There was really no direct contact with us to them,” Ms. Brennan said. “We wanted a more personal relationship.”
In an introduction to studio art class at FHS, students were asked to complete a portrait of someone who had inspired them. Ms. Brennan thought, “Why couldn’t you be inspired by a refugee?”
Ms. Brennan worked closely with Falmouth High School art teacher Jane F. Baker to develop her project idea, in which Falmouth students would exchange photos of themselves and their hometown with students in Beirut to create portraits of each other.
Ms. Baker also aided the project by submitting a grant proposal to the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank Charitable Foundation for $500 to be spent on art supplies for the refugee camp. With those funds, the class was able to send a camera, colored pencils, and paper to the classroom in Beirut.
The portraits are expected to be completed and put on display in the fall, but some of them will be shown at the Middle Eastern Evening, which will be held at the Church of the Messiah’s Fisher House at 13 Church Street in Woods Hole. Those who are unable to attend the event but wish to contribute to the school can send donations in the form of a check to the Church of the Messiah at 22 Church Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543.
Source: www.capenews.net