Hear Their Stories
The story below is part of a campaign that NPR is doing called #15Girls which interviews 15-year-old girls who are struggling to change their fate from child brides, refugees, education, etc. The story below interviews Fatmeh, who fled Syria with her family to Lebanon. Fatmeh says "I had a dream that when I came here to Lebanon I would study here and go to school here and become an Arabic language teacher here," she continues "And then [I hoped] when I go back to Syria, my dream would have been achieved. But it did not work at all with me here" (Beaubien, 2015).
The following are a few quotes pulled from various scholarly interviews and news sources that refugee children have spoken to:
Education is an important asset for survival, especially in terms of a generation. The children who have fled to refugee camps, and who have been born there, have been through a traumatic experience that already threatens their ability to learn and “since children’s personalities and coping skills are being developed daily, a traumatic disruption can harm a child’s physical, intellectual, psychological, cultural, and social development” (Sinclair) which can ultimately lead back to ideas of conflict and engaging in violence. Furthermore, education “restores an element of hope: it is forward-looking and constructive, as contrasted to talk of revenge, joining militias, or participating in other harmful activities” (Sinclair). The refugee children who are fighting for their education are fighting because they believe by attending school and getting into a university they will be freed from their current situation in refugee camps. Opportunities and possibilities are seen as endless with an education and they can bring their knowledge back to their country to rebuild and help their communities. Additionally, and most importantly, they can break the cycle of violence and work to usher in an age of peace.
