2015
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OUR STORY
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In 2013 Mohamad Aljounde and his family fled Syria to Lebanon where 1.5 million syrian refugees live.
2013
Gharsah´s story starts in 2013 with Mohamad Aljounde.
Follow the timeline and learn more about our story.
After volunteering in the Syrian refugee camps, Mohamad realized that many refugee children like himself couldn’t go to school.
So, he came up with the idea to build a tent where children can meet and receive informal education from volunteers.
2014
Watch the video and learn more about Gharsah at the moment.
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With the help of Syrian expats in Europe, mohamad and his family were able to gather donation and built the tent. His idea grew into fruition turning into an educational center, where refugee children could learn and foster friendships. The tent was able to support 120 children and 20 women.
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In mid-2015, while in the midst of their work, suddenly a decision to disband the camp was issued without any previous notice.​
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“Removing the tents felt like we were removing the dreams and hopes from the hearts of the children. All they understood was, “We won’t have a school anymore”. We promised them that we would return.” – Mohamad aljounde
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With the support of local NGOs Mohamad and his family were able to reopen the centre again, not as tent but as a proper school building as Gharsah Center. At the time the school supported 170 children and 90 women.
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2017
In December 2017, Mohamad received the International Children's Peace Prize from Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, securing funding for expanding Gharsah Center and sustaining it.
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Gharsah center moved to a bigger building to increase its capacity. And developed a strong team of qualified teacher, psychologists, and managers. Gharsah center started to support 240 children and 500 women on annual basis since then.
Gharsah shool in a tent in 2014
Malala Yousafzai and Mohamad Aljounde at the ICPP ceremony in 2017
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2018
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Gharsah Sweden was established to support the school in Lebanon and raise awareness about the refugee statues in Lebanon.
2020
Due to the covid 19 Global pandemic, Beirut port explosion, and the severe increase in prices the situation in Lebanon is critical and uncertain. With that comes a lack of funding for grassroots initiatives like Gharsah Center. The children's program is the one affected the most by the crises, and it is now at the risk of shutting down.
Learn more about our programs here.
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Gharsah center in 2021