HADEEL EL-OMER

Idlib– Education is one of the main problems faced by people who have to live in refugee camps due to war policies, clashes and conflicts. While most children living in refugee camps are deprived of their right to education, 25-year-old Reşa El Burhan has turned her tent into a school for the children living in the Atma refugee camp located in Idlib.

“I want to support children to access education”

Underlining that the education system, particularly in the camps, is getting worse, Reşa El-Burhan said, “Many children cannot access education due to the small number of teachers and schools. When I realized that the children in the camp do not know how to read and write, I decided to turn my tent into a school in order to teach them how to write and read.”

“She want to teach the children”

Reşa El-Burhan did not complete her university education because she had to leave her homeland due to the Syrian war. She lives with her husband and two children in the camp. She has read many books because she has been interested in literature since her childhood. Reşa El-Burhan told us that her aim is to teach both her own children and other children living in the camp.

Sulaf has 15 students

Reşa El-Burhan is not the only woman who turns her tent into a school. Many women living in the camps have turned their tents into schools for children. 33-year-old Sulaf El-Tawil is one of them. She has turned her tent into a school and 15 children go to her tent to learn how to write and read. “The harsh conditions, isolation and pressures faced by us in the camp pushed me to create a job opportunity for myself,” she told us.

“The war violates our right to education”

37-year-old Welîda El-Hejî sends her child to one of the tents being turned into a school. She told us that she is happy to have such schools in the camp. Underlining that one of the most fundamental rights violated due to war is the right to education, she said that her child could access to education thanks to such schools.