Norwegian’sChadiHanaataMakani school;andone-
timeLebaneserefugeeRaniaHidohelpswithaclass
I
t’s themonotony that’s
hard tobear. From a
viewpoint high above,
all youcan see are
dust-coatedboxes
stretching to theedges of vision.
Driving through it, the space is only
brokenby amain road– known
ironically as theChamps-Élysées for its
long lineof tarpaulin-draped shacks,
piledwithmounds of vegetables,
tinned food anddusty shoes.
This is Za’atari. Founded in2012,
the refugeecamp is peopledby those
whohaveescaped the violence across
the Jordanianborder in Syria. It’s
nowhome to about 80,000people
– aroundhalf ofwhom areunder
18. As only a small proportionof
thesechildrenhas access to formal
education, there’s a very real worry
that thesedisplaced youngsterswill
become a lost generation.
UNICEF andNorwegian’s Fill Up a
Planemissionwas devised for these
youngpeople.With the aidof UNICEF
andpassengers, who raisedoverNOK
2million, the airlinewas able to stuff
oneof its 737planeswithmore than 13
tonnes of educational supplies headed
for theZa’atari camp.
Alsoon the flight, on2November,
areUNICEF andNorwegianMinistry
representatives, alongside 10
Norwegian staff, including the airline’s
CEOBjørnKjos. Among them are
pilots andcabincrewwhohavebeen
nominatedby their colleagues. Rania
Hido is oneof the lucky ones.
“I was delighted tobechosen,” she
says. “Especially because I knowwhat
it’s like tobe thosechildren.”Hidowas
just two years oldwhen she fled the
civil war in Lebanon toNorway. “I felt a
bit like thiswas payback.”
On themorning after arrival, she and
her colleagues set off to thecamp to
distribute someof the supplies to a
school there. “I didn’t knowwhatwe’d
find. I expectedmore sadness in the
eyes of thechildren, becauseof the
desperate situation they are in–but
theywere sohappy to seeus.”
In amakeshift school building, with
missingpieces of ceiling, the group
offloads someof the school supplies,
which are greetedwith adegreeof
joy thatwouldbeunusual frommany
children in theWest.When thecrew
asks a groupof teenage girls their
plans for the future, all of them say
they hope to go touniversity.
Sadly, this ambitionwill bebeyond
the reachofmany. Althoughmore than
143,000 refugeechildrenhavebeen
enrolled in theJordanian school system
this year –a 10per cent increaseon
2014–many youngpeoplehaveno
access toeducationor training. Tohelp,
UNICEFhas set up severalMakani (My
Space) centres,whichact as informal
schools. Thesecentres giveunder-18s
what is termed “psychosocial support”,
in the formof socialisation, art, sport
andmusic therapy.
“Coming fromwar, thereare
sometimesdifficulties gettingchildren
to school,”explainsReemBatarseh,
a local UNICEF representative. “If
they’renot at school thenparentsmay
want them towork, or getmarried. If
theycan’t beat school, at least they
cancomehere, learn, run…doall the
activitiesof childhood. It’s so important
theyhaveachance to just beachild.”
On the team’s visit tooneof these
Makanis, outside thecamp, a groupof
boys aged 10-12 are learning about the
UN’s rights of the child. Although
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“It’s so important theyhave
achance to justbeachild”
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