Madrasah Al-Nur

Hatay, Turkey - The Syrian Madrasah Al-Nur, or School of Light, functions out of a two story business building near the edge of town. Established two years ago by Syrian teachers from Aleppo, Damascus, and Homs, they were able to pool their money together to lease the empty building, transforming it into a make-shift school. Meeting with Syrian teachers in the faculty lounge, which is actually a hollowed out room owned by an unrelated NGO that uses the back half as a storage space, they express the tribulations they face to keep the school running. Teachers, who asked to remain anonymous for the safety of their relative still living in Syria, are working without pay for two years now. Entering Turkey with what little savings they had, they still hold to a dedicated spirit, determined to not let hundreds of children grow up without an education. Yet, after two years of full-time work without salary, almost every teacher has exhausted their family's savings; many of whom are relying on borrowed money from friends, distant family, or from the generosity of the growing Syrian communities in Hatay.

Students in Math class.

"We are one of the poorest of the Syrian school here in Hatay," a language teacher related to me. " We can't afford to pay teachers, we don't have an adequate school building, and we lack the technology, like computers, to get children ready for a future in the modern world." 

Without a continual source of financial support, the school operates by individual donations alone. This creates a very strenuous situation for the 15 teachers working to educate the 300 children attending Madrasah Al-Nur. Aside from the inability to pay its educators, there is also the financial dilemma facing many of the children's families, who can't afford to send their kids to school. Regardless that the school remains tuition free for its students, "some children have dropped out of our school, or can't make it to class everyday because their families simply can't afford the daily bus fare," another teacher told me. "We [the teachers] try to raise money to pay for the buses, but with so many children needing help, the amount adds up."

Children getting on to a bus at the end of the day.

Compiled with the many operational costs, the school also faces a structural problem: the building itself. As an office building refitted as a school, many of the offices-turned-classrooms are too small for the amount of children in each class. There is a lack of accessible drinking water, and none of the rooms are equipped with air conditioning units to warm the classes during the frigid desert winters, or to provide shelter from the heat during the sweltering summer months.

"We can't give up," he continued with a tone of determination. "We can't stop. If we leave these children they may spend their days begging in the streets instead of getting an education. We can't let that happen. The war in Syria has already destroyed so much. We can't afford to loose an entire generation."

Students are assigned cleaning chores to compensate for a lack of janitorial staff.

And he is right. The Syrian war has killed over 200,000 people, and displaced millions. With every passing day the situation on the ground is turning more dire, and the seeds of revenge are only being sown deeper in minds of those whom have had their lives desolated. An entire generation of Syrian children are at risk of being forgotten; left to a life of exile, trauma, and complete uncertainty. 

*For those interested in contacting, or helping Madrasah Al-Nur, you may contact the school's program coordinator, Ashraf Jamous, at: asjamous71@hotmail.com

A girl in Geography class.