A ray of sunshine: Hana

“Bonjour Mister Tony”. That is how the little Hana (10) greets the bus driver of one of our school buses, each time when he picks her up. Hana grew up in the Syrian city of Aleppo, where she used to live in an city apartment, together with her parents, four brothers and two sisters. Three years ago, the family was forced to move to Lebanon, where they now live in a small floor apartment. In Syria, Hana has never been to any school.

The little girl used to help her mother around the house. There wasn’t any school in her area that allowed her to come to class. There was simply no room for an extra student. Hana felt embarrassed. “I didn’t know how to write at all”, she tells us.

Hana is learning French

Now, Hana comes to our classes, where she is learning French. With our educational project ‘Back to the Future’ we help more than 21,000 children to catch up with their education. Children such as Hana. Hana started in the first level and gets help with basic literacy and numeracy.

“I love the alphabet and especially learning the French letters”, she says.

Each morning she stands in front of her house, together with her two siblings who are also enrolled in our educational classes. And each time that one of our school busses picks her up for school, she is already waiting for a while, with her mother beside her, as she is so excited to come.

Hana learns faster than her classmates, because she is so eager to learn, tells her teacher Lilyan. “Hana has a very strong will and when she decides on something, she makes it her main focus. She is so smart.”

Brothers and sisters

Eager to learn

“Hana is so eager to learn” tells her teacher Lilyan. “Hana has a very strong will and when she decides on something, she makes it her main focus. She is so smart.”