Children reading books donated by Thuraya at a school in Lebanon. Photo: Thuraya

[Via Satellite 12-19-2016] Thuraya has supplied books for classrooms in Lebanon, where displaced Syrian children are being helped to return to structured school life. The telecommunications company is supporting the Ana Aqra Association, a non-profit, non-sectarian, and non-political association that exists to respond to the educational, psychosocial and cultural needs of children in the early years of learning. Since this is especially important in times of upheaval, Ana Aqra is focusing on many of the thousands of Syrian refugee children who are rebuilding their lives in Lebanon.

Ana Aqra supports Lebanese public schools, and serves 20,000 children every year throughout the country, providing a way back into formal education for those who are out of school. In accordance with H.H Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s declaration that 2016 is the year of reading, Thuraya is helping with a donation of books, which are needed for classroom libraries. This contribution has helped 460 children in 23 classroom libraries, in Beqaa. This will help support more than a thousand out-of-school Syrian children between 6 and 14 years of age, alongside host community girls and boys, who now have access to a safe place to learn.

“If you are a child and you are forced to flee your homeland, normal school life stops. Thankfully, this is where Ana Aqra is stepping in, giving Syrian children the new structure, safety and support they so desperately need. Ana Aqra is working across Lebanon, and they are making a fantastic difference. Thuraya is supplying books for classrooms because we want to help these children return to a normal school life,” said Nina Chams, Thuraya projects and CSR manager.