New initiative helps provide hope for Syrian families this holiday season
CHICAGO, IL/REYHANLI, TURKEY – They are the young faces of the Syrian refugee crisis you hardly ever see, their fates forgotten amid a backdrop of an escalating war with no end in sight. Yasmeen, a 10-year old Syrian refugee, works at a local hair salon, sweeping floors for hair clippings to support her family. Her brothers, Haithem (11) and Khaled (14), collect scrap metal with their bare hands while their mother stays at home to care for their father, who is still suffering from an injury sustained in the Syrian conflict. Although Yasmeen’s family came to Reyhanli, the border city of Turkey a year ago, they have not attended school since the violence took hold in their hometown, Idlib, Syria in 2011. Thanks to Karam Foundation’s new initiative, “Sponsor a Syrian Refugee Family” program, Yasmeen and her brothers were recently able to quit their jobs and return to school for the first time in four years.
“Sponsor a Syrian Refugee Family” launched by Karam Foundation in November 2015, aims to lift urban refugee families in Reyhanli out of poverty while providing a secure future through education. Refugee families, individually vetted by the Karam Foundation, receive a monthly stipend of $150 to $300 from the aid program on the condition that their children register and regularly attend school. Currently, the program is supporting 26 Syrian refugee families and 56 children, who have already enrolled in school.
Yasmeen and her brothers are just one of more than 400,000 Syrian refugee children living in Turkey, who are out of school due to extreme poverty. Although Turkish Government offers all registered Syrian refugees access to the public school system, many Syrian children join the illegal labor market to support their family or stay home to take care of their injured parents. These children are often employed in harmful working conditions, leaving them at risk for injury and exploitation.
“Our goal is to provide high-impact, community-driven and sustainable aid to those who need it the most in this refugee crisis – the children. ‘Sponsor a Syrian Refugee Family’ program delivers immediate aid to impoverished families while helping to build their children’s future,” said Lina Sergie Attar, co-founder and CEO of Karam Foundation, who strongly believes in the importance of educating refugee children. “We witnessed firsthand how Syrian refugee lives change dramatically for the better by being part of our program. Children are happier and parents are finally able to have a sense of stability. This holiday season with a contribution as low as $50 a month our donors can give a refugee family security for today and tomorrow.”
The foundation provides a unique opportunity to change refugee families’ lives with a long-lasting impact through a transparent aid program. Potential donors have the option to choose the family they would like to support from profiles of children featured on Karam Foundation’s website. Donors also receive periodic updates on the progress of the families they are sponsoring and can stay connected with them throughout the year. For more information, please visit www.karamfoundation.org or @KaramFoundation on twitter.
