Success story: Zeina Abdulkader campaigns for other refugee children’s education
When Africa Muslims Agency staff visited Zeina Abdulkader, in her tent in Tripoli, north Lebanon, they were shocked at the conditions her and her family were in.
When they asked her what she would do if she had all of the money in the world, she innocently replied, “peanuts.”
Zeina said her favourite foods were peanuts and green apples, but it had been months since she had tasted them.
Her family were cramped in a single room, with mould all around the tent because of the humid conditions. Everyone in the family would get sick often, because of the lack of ventilation and space within their tent.
Zeina’s family were forced to come to Lebanon after fleeing from the war in Syria and seeing their home, and all of the areas they had grown to love and be familiar with, be demolished.
When they arrived to Lebanon, Zeina’s parents found that their prospects were dim, as their refugee status meant that there were over 70 jobs they were not permitted to undertake.
Schooling was also a major issue, as Zeina had found herself suddenly stuck in a tent with no access to schools, or a sense of normality.
After regular visits from the AMA team and numerous needs assessments to determine the exact requirements of the family, Zeina was eventually sponsored and enrolled into school.
Today, she has changed from a reserved, apprehensive and fearful child to an outgoing and outspoken person, campaigning for education for the rest of her friends who she says are still left behind without school.
“I’ll only go back to Syria with our heads raised up high. I don’t want to go back while there’s still a war,” she says.
Despite being enrolled into a new school, where she is preforming well in all of her subjects, Zeina says she can’t let go of her memories back in Syria, and that she’d love to one day go back.
“All of my extended family and aunties still live there. But it’s too difficult to go back now. I’ll go back when it’s safe and looks like it did before the war,” she added.
