Lina’s glasses of hope

Written By: Joanna Zreineh

In Syria, people with disability make up 28% of the population, yet most are left behind. For Lina*, a 13-year-old girl from rural Aleppo, her world once looked like a foggy mirror; unclear and confusing. Living in Rural Aleppo, Lina and her family faced daily struggle as they live in a modest mud house where electricity and water are often cut off. Adding salt to the wound, her father has been unemployed for months, a result of high unemployment rates in Syria. Despite these challenges, Lina, who faces visual disability, longed for school. But her poor eyesight made every lesson feel like a battle she was destined to lose.

She reflects saying, "I could hear the teacher’s voice, but the board was just a blur. Sometimes I cried on the way home because I felt different. Some girls even made fun of me, and I just wanted to disappear."

But this didn’t only leave a mark on Lina, her mother remembers those gloomy days vividly, “she used to come back from school devastated with her head down, saying she couldn’t keep it up. It broke my heart because I knew she loved learning but the lack of inclusive education and bullying stood as a constant barrier.”

But in 2022, life transformed for Lina as the World Vision Syria Response’s (WVSR) “Knowledge is Power” education project, funded by UNOCHA’s Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund reached her school.

The project provided students, grades 5 to 12, with textbooks, school supplies, and exam support materials to strengthen their academic performance and uplift financial constraints. It also enhanced the school environment through rehabilitation work, including installing shades and repairing desks, while also equipping teachers with targeted training to improve their skills. The project also focused on the children’s wellbeing by providing psychosocial sessions. It also provided referral services for children with disability and distributed the needed tools like glasses, hearing aid, ect. The project also encouraged community engagement through the formation of Parent and School Management Committees. Finally, one of the most important project aspects supported, is the Cash-for-education (transportation allowance) distributes which helped children, especially those in camps and remote areas, access schools. This supported many children who go through child labour or child marriage to enroll back in school and focus on their education.

Lina’s school was one of the schools supported. They tested Lina’s vision and soon after, she received her very first pair of glasses, free of cost and customized to fit her disability.

The moment she wore them, it was as if the world opened its arms to her, “for the first time, I saw the board clearly. I saw my teacher’s face, the letters in my book, even the smiles of my friends. My world finally became clear”.

But the glasses were only the beginning. The project also gave Lina access to psychosocial support and awareness workshops while her teachers encouraged her along the way. Slowly, the shy girl who once found refuge at the back of the classroom began raising her hand, laughing with her now new friends, and answering questions with confidence.

 “The old Lina is back now,” says her school principal. “She is much happier and believes in herself again. Her grades also improved and she’s even making new friends”.

Thanks to UNOCHA, today, Lina has a big dream, she wants to become a doctor, helping children who, like her, once felt like the world was shutting them out. "I used to feel like my dreams were hidden behind glass. Now, I see them clearly. One day, I will help children see their own dreams too”, she concludes.

Lina is just one of the thousands of success stories, as the project reached over 7,000 student and over 300 teachers with the project services in 16 schools in Rural Aleppo.

Despite the challenging circumstances, Lina’s story highlights that sometimes even the simplest of support can transform lives and equip children with the tools for a thriving future.

*Name has been changed to protect identity