Do you remember this guy, Mohammad, a Syrian refugee from Jordan, who I made this little photo film about last year?
https://vimeo.com/98416648
Well, one year on, he's started school, with some nudging and shoving from us, and UK private sponsorship to replace his earnings so he can quit the day job until the summer holidays.
I went back to film him in the Jordanian town of Ramtha, near the Syrian border, yesterday. We haven't seen him for about 5 weeks and he must have grown 3 inches in that time. I told him he'd turned into an 'Alef' the 'Aaahh' sound of the Arabic alphabet which is drawn like a long, thin vertical line. He looked delighted.
We interviewed him at home first, and he told us how proud he was to be at school, how his life has changed, and how everyone treats him differently now. Then we followed him to his classroom where he had a religion lesson from a charming teacher with twinkling brown eyes. He gave Mohammad extra help with his handwriting and spellings (he's been out of school for nearly 3 years). And I can vouch there seemed nothing hardline about the religious instruction the boys were receiving. In fact my very unreligious Egyptian friend who I was with admitted she was really interested in what they were learning about the Koran.
We got all the boys to stand up and introduce themselves. 'I'm Ahmad from Homs.' 'I'm Abdullah from Dera'a'. 'I'm Zeid from Damascus.' You wonder about their future. But for now they're safe, and receiving five half-days education in one week. All funded by Jordanian government and aid agencies. There's something sticking to the sides, even amidst the chaos.
When I struggled back in the door with my kit at 6.30pm, having been out of the house for a full 12 hours, Rashimi came rushing out expecting it to be the Lozenge who'd been at a friend's house. When he saw me, he looked really disappointed and said: 'But why ithn't it Lauwie?'
And Rashimi has recently performed us his new Easter hymn, he learned at school: 'Lauwie in the Highest.'
Brothers.
https://vimeo.com/98416648
Well, one year on, he's started school, with some nudging and shoving from us, and UK private sponsorship to replace his earnings so he can quit the day job until the summer holidays.
I went back to film him in the Jordanian town of Ramtha, near the Syrian border, yesterday. We haven't seen him for about 5 weeks and he must have grown 3 inches in that time. I told him he'd turned into an 'Alef' the 'Aaahh' sound of the Arabic alphabet which is drawn like a long, thin vertical line. He looked delighted.
We interviewed him at home first, and he told us how proud he was to be at school, how his life has changed, and how everyone treats him differently now. Then we followed him to his classroom where he had a religion lesson from a charming teacher with twinkling brown eyes. He gave Mohammad extra help with his handwriting and spellings (he's been out of school for nearly 3 years). And I can vouch there seemed nothing hardline about the religious instruction the boys were receiving. In fact my very unreligious Egyptian friend who I was with admitted she was really interested in what they were learning about the Koran.
We got all the boys to stand up and introduce themselves. 'I'm Ahmad from Homs.' 'I'm Abdullah from Dera'a'. 'I'm Zeid from Damascus.' You wonder about their future. But for now they're safe, and receiving five half-days education in one week. All funded by Jordanian government and aid agencies. There's something sticking to the sides, even amidst the chaos.
When I struggled back in the door with my kit at 6.30pm, having been out of the house for a full 12 hours, Rashimi came rushing out expecting it to be the Lozenge who'd been at a friend's house. When he saw me, he looked really disappointed and said: 'But why ithn't it Lauwie?'
And Rashimi has recently performed us his new Easter hymn, he learned at school: 'Lauwie in the Highest.'
Brothers.
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