Stories of MENA
Stories of MENA: Jourieh Al-Rabih, the Syrian Malala
A rosy fragrance seems to float in the air at the mere pronunciation of her name:Jourieh Al-Rabih or the rose of spring. Not any rose. The rose of Damascus or, rather, of Aleppo. Delicate but resilient indeed.
Born in 1989, Jourieh is a “constant seeker”. She sought refuge in Lebanon after fleeing the war in Syria in 2012. She strove for learning despite all impediments. Unable to obtain all required legal papers, for a long time, she lost many chances to access the university. She then was obliged to register in undesirable academic disciplines. She also had to confront her employer's disapproval of her educational bouts and his threat of throwing her and her eight-member family out of their humble shelter… One additional seek to add on her to do list, the search for a new roof! A roof that was to be a tent in a camp in the West Bekaa in Lebanon.
The harsh life conditions Syrian refugee children suffer from at the camp horrify Jourieh. “Almost 70% of the children were dropped out of school, hanging in gangs, spending useless time, wandering in the streets. Most of them have no identification papers so they cannot rally public schools. In addition, their parents abide by strict traditions that forbid, mainly their daughters, to go out”.
In 2017, Jourieh spares a tiny blackboard and a narrow corner of her family’s tent to school fifteen child. The word of mouth worked so well that other parents in neighboring camps asked her to expand her work. Within one week, the number of children attending her “school” doubled. The corner rapidly upgraded to a room. Chairs filled the bare ground on which the children used to sit. The ever-growing numbers of students brought attention to Jourieh’s effort. People started to offer her small “gifts” enabling her to expand her endeavor to a three-room tent hosting 350 child ranging between 4 and 15 years old, all submitting, as a start, to a literacy curriculum.“The number of girls attending my school is far greater than the number of boys”, affirms Jourieh, a fact that breaks the dominant and severe social rule of not giving girls an education and oversteps the economic reason of skipping any subsidiary spending.
Moreover, it promotes Jourieh’s school, against all odds, to the rank of “safe haven” for girls, thus enabling them to envision “better days” away from the risks of early marriage, domestic violence, delinquency and ignorance. Jourieh is herself “the only survivor from early marriage” in her family, as she describes herself; her six sisters being all married at more or less 15 years old.
Deeply committed to her self-bestowed “mission”, Jourieh strives to preserve her achievement and to uphold her ultimate commitment towards education with the sole tools of passion and will. Until the end of 2022, financial difficulties were to be overcome on almost a daily basis. “A polish social worker provided me with one hundred
dollars per month for over a year. This amount of money enabled me to buy some stationery and to pay to two young women assistants their transportation costs” states Jourieh. In 2023, within the framework of a social program destined to empower the Syrian refugees, Jourieh’s initiative received a limited financial support scheduled over a four-month period. Consequently, a printer, a projector, books and pens are some of the “dreams” that came true! “This gave us some chance to breathe,” claims Jourieh happily while a wide smile enlightens her face. She adds, “I never expected that my tiny tent school, competing amongst much more audacious initiatives, especially technological ones, will benefit from any kind of aid… My sufferings and my ambition to mark people lives have somehow paid!”
Jourieh’s call seems to echo the one of the youngest Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. Like Malala, she stands on the front lines to help, via education, the weak and disadvantaged. “I am honored to celebrate my 18th birthday with brave and inspiring Syrian girls. I am here on behalf of the 28 million children who have been driven out of school by armed conflict. Their courage and dedication to continuing their studies in difficult circumstances inspires people all over the world, and it is our duty to stand by them.” Those were the words of Malala while opening the "Malala Yousafzai All Girls" school in the western Bekaa Valley in Lebanon in 2015, dedicated to educating Syrian girls living in refugee camps, not far from Jourieh’s school.
A long road towards the future awaits not only Jourieh’s school but also all the children attending it. She insists, “It is enough that displacement has marked children's psyches. It should not determine their fate.” Inspired by the challenging paths facing everyone every day, she named the school “Durub” (Roads). Jourieh’s own path still unfolds towards more success. “My work has reached one camp. It has yet to get to so many more children in so many more camps and be officially recognized for the best interest of these children.” She does not label her work as “a success” but rather as “a cause” and “a duty”. She asserts, “It is my duty to teach these children reading and writing so they can be armed and able to defend themselves against life’s hardships. More important, my school provides also a safe haven for hundreds of girls, at least for some hours per day”. A duty, organizations do not fully assume. A success, governments have not yet achieved.