A Teacher’s PerspectiveNivine Choaib, a teacher at a tent school in Lebanon, shares how your support is impacting displaced girls like Zuhur and Najah in the region of Bekaa Valley

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IN THIS ISSUE

A Teacher’s Perspective.......................2The Growth of Portable Education.......3Schools by Satellite..............................4Meeting Rawan.....................................4

Photo: Boys study at Hope School* in southeast Asia, a partner through TSI’s LEAP program (Photo by Ryann Flippo)

Schools by SatelliteA collaboration with Sat-7 is providing access to trauma-informed education for more children, particularly in Arabic-speaking nations

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TENT SCHOOLS INTERNATIONALQUARTERLY NEWSLETTER / SUMMER 2018

Dear Friend,

The one, sure ritual around our house in summer was the twice-weekly walk to the local farmers’ market. Mom would inspect and negotiate around the fresh produce at her favorite stalls and then load up our red Radio Flyer wagon for the two-block walk home. Being city kids, we weren’t that close to the earth; we simply enjoyed the fruits of farm workers’ labor.

As you read the stories in this summer issue of our newsletter, remember those who labor in the schools and partner programs, which thrive due to your prayer and gifts. While they live out their vocations, many of us are able to take time off, enjoying the weather and renewing our energy for the work God calls us to do.

For many organizations, summers are “dry” months for giving. For what has been planted in faith, water is needed to see these efforts through to harvest. One of the best ways to keep the water flowing is to become a member of our “Circle of Friends”. Through a monthly gift you set, TSI continues to irrigate our partnerships.

Since our director for development, Rawan Haddad, has come on board, we are aware of more opportunities to help plant new schools serving Middle Eastern refugee children. We want to see the region flourish as an oasis of hope for kids who need access to compassionate education.

Together, let’s water the dry places, helping children learn and get to know the One who promises Living Water.

Enjoy the blessings of summer!

Dale Dale Dieleman, Executive Director

2 TENT SCHOOLS INTERNATIONAL

Lebanon is a small country on the western border of Syria that, despite its

humble size, has accepted over one million refugees. Most of them are living in camps in the region of Bekaa Valley, where Nivine Choaib, a Christian Palestinian, teaches at a tent school.

Nivine spends most of her day working with Syrian children under the age of 12. One of them is Zuhur, a six-year-old from northern Syria. Her family fled the region because of the bombings there, which, along with violence and fear, brought a lack of basic supplies like water, electricity and food. Zuhur’s family is now living in a camp in Bekaa Valley made up of 78 tent shelters for refugee families.

Zuhur, still recovering from the effects of what happened in Syria and her family’s flight to Lebanon, was able to go to school in the camp for the first time.

“It wasn’t an easy experience for her, [or] for us...following the

A Teacher’s Perspective

LEFT: Zuhur and Najah with their younger brother in the Bekaa Valley camp in Lebanon

Nivine Choaib is a tent-school teacher in Lebanon who digs through the layers of post-trauma in children every day. She says, “It takes time to help [them] adapt.”

schedule and the rules of the class,” said Nivine. “It took some time for us to help her adapt.”

Nivine reported that over time, Zuhur began responding academically to her efforts, and during morning Bible storytime she was catching on quickly.

“She was learning the songs and participating positively in the story time and during the question-and-answer portion,” Nivine said.

Positive change over time in children like Zuhur give Nivine the energy to press on with the kids who initially have a difficult time adjusting to the structure and safety of school after the chaos of displacement.

Zuhur, age 6

into the next year with a plan to launch a daycare for kids like Najah’s and Zuhur’s younger brother. This would give girls like Najah the chance to continue their learning. Learn more about our work with tent schools at tentschoolsint.org/about-us.

TENT SCHOOLS INTERNATIONAL 3

Portable Education is Part of the Solution. TSI’s laptop program continues to grow in places like the U.S. and southeast Asia

A student uses a LEAP laptop at Hope School* in southeast Asia

In 2018, portable education through technology have become increasingly important as the refugee crisis expands and more families are

displaced by war and natural disasters.

Tent Schools International supplies low-cost laptops for displaced youth as part of its LEAP program. To date, TSI has sent 20 laptops to at-risk students in southeast Asia and six to a camp in Tanzania serving refugees from Burundi.

“We have a number of refugees attending the computer class...over 20 students attend the class each month,” wrote Norbert Mbwiliza, director of a TSI partner organization in Tanzania.

Mbwiliza says the need for more laptops in the camp remains great. Shipping costs are detrimental to LEAP program growth in Tanzania, which depends on donor support in order to continue there.

In southeast Asia, students at risk of trafficking or who have been recently rescued are using educational programs on laptops at their after-school programs to catch up to their peers.

LEAP is growing there due to a partnership with an organization that sends mission teams between the United States and Hope School*, hand-delivering the technology and avoiding shipping costs.

LEAP has grown most substantially in the United States, where over 60 laptops have been distributed to organizations and churches with refugee and immigrant resettlement programs.

Thank you for your continued support of portable education! Learn more and donate at tentschoolsin.org/LEAP.

*Actual school name and location withheld to protect our partners

Tanzania

Zuhur’s older sister, Najah, is 12 years old. Najah also attended school for the first time in the Bekaa Valley camp and was placed in first grade. Academically, Najah adjusted more quickly because of her immediate love for school and learning. Spiritually, Najah also grew, learning from the Bible stories and asking questions.

“Najah is very open spiritually,” said Nivine. “The challenge for her is that, starting in spring, she cannot be fully committed to school as her mom works in the fields and she has to take care of her younger brother. That causes her to be absent on many school days.”

Nivine asks for prayers that the school will be able to continue

Nivine Choaib

TENT SCHOOLS INTERNATIONAL is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Tent Schools International™A / 629 Ionia Ave. SW

Grand Rapids, MI 49503P / (616) 531-9102

W / tentschoolsint.org

PRESIDENTScott Vander Kooy svanderkooy@tentschoolsint.org

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Dale Dieleman ddieleman@tentschoolsint.org

DEVELOPMENTRawan Haddad rhaddad@tentschoolsint.org

COMMUNICATIONS Emily Klooster eklooster@tentschoolsint.org

LEAP PROGRAMTyler Sajdak tsajdak@tentschoolsint.org

OUR MISSION TENT SCHOOLS INTERNATIONAL™

demonstrates the love of Jesus Christ for displaced children by making

education accessible, exchanging chaos for peace and loss for opportunity.

HAVENS OF PEACE AND OPPORTUNITY

is checkered. The children go five, six, seven years without it. You blink and it’s gone.”

Rogers says many of the children’s male relatives have been either killed in conflict or are away looking for work, which contributes to a feeling of hopelessness among refugee families left in the camps.

“What they have experienced is a long list of things confronting them,” he said.

Like Tent Schools International, Sat-7 does much of its work in Lebanon because of the high concentration of refugees there. A shared goal of both organizations is access to trauma-informed education.

Learn more about resources like our“Beyond PTSD” guide at tentschoolsint.org.

Schools by SatelliteResource sharing helps educators become trauma informed

Sat-7 is a Christian satellite television network broadcasting in Arabic,

Persian and Turkish across 25 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The organization is distributing copies of Tent Schools International’s “Beyond PTSD” guide for educators to their staff in Lebanon as they put together broadcasts for three Arabic-language satellite channels of Christian educational content in the Middle East.

“Trauma is a huge issue,” said Rex Rogers, President of Sat-7 USA. “You get into the camps you meet families, you meet the mothers. School for the children

Find us on social media: TentSchoolsInt

Rex Rogers and Scott VanderKooy prepare to film for a live post on Facebook highlighting the importance of educational access for refugees

Meeting RawanWe’re grateful for supporters who came out to meet our new development director, Rawan Haddad, on May 18 in Grand Rapids, MI!

Rawan spoke briefly about the four years she spent working with Iraqi and Syrian refugees in her home country of Jordan; afterward attendees were invited to connect with her and with other TSI staff and to sample food from the Middle East.

Rawan, her husband Salah, and their two sons recently moved to Michigan from Jordan. We are thrilled to have her on board. Contact Rawan at rhaddad@tentschoolsint.org or (800) 886-9000.

Photos by Salah Asad Nassar

The children go five, six, seven years without [education]. You blink, and it’s gone. - Rex Rogers, Sat-7