Turning diversity into a blessing
In a school in the heart of Bourj Hammoud, Rania, a third grade teacher, noticed the tension between her students. This tension started when children fought during recess, and some of them refused to play with the others. Rania opened the discussion with the children, when they came back to class. The children admitted that they divide themselves into groups depending on religion and nationality, and they do not allow anyone from another group to interfere.
Rania, received the training under the life skills programme and Lion Quest curriculum, provided by World Vision. With the support of World Vision supporters in France and USA, and in partnership with SKOUN, 1645 students from grade 1 to grade 8 benefit from the programme which seeks to provide children with the social and emotional skills to solve problems, as well emphasize and deal with conflicts. The teachers were also trained on safe identification and referral, in order to be able to refer cases to related agencies that can support them.
“I was surprised, because I have been teaching here for 12 years, and it has always been a school for students with different backgrounds.Maybe this started to appear when kids had the freedom to express and could share what they have towards each other. The class I teach is an example of the diversity we have,” Rania says. “After speaking with Miss Nada, the director of the school, we decided to give our children at least one Life Skills’ session, provided by World Vision.”
“The theme of the sessions was about the differences we might have as human beings, especially that we are raised differently. We are aware that children argue a lot, but after these sessions they could sense how interaction can be done between them,” Nada assures.
Victoria, 9, is Christian Lebanese from Hadchit.“I used to run away from Jad and not let him touch my books. Before the sessions, I played only with girls who are Christians. But now I know that religion does not matter. I want to be friends and play with everyone. The teacher taught us how to treat each others like brothers and sisters,” Victoria admits.
Victoria’s friend, Jad, 10, is Lebanese Muslim from Ersal, lives in BourjHammoud and has been in this school since kindergarten.Jad expresses “I usually do not have any problem in integrating with my classmates but there were limits. I wanted to sit and chat with kids that I knew before. But after Miss Rania spoke to us about making friends from different backgrounds, I could see that Victoria is so funny. I enjoy spending time with her, and playing together during recess. She is my sister at school.”
Jad and Victoria opened the circle of trust even more, and added Khachnaf later to their group. Khachnaf , 9, is Muslim from Cham. He was born in Lebanon and has been with Jad in the same class since kindergarten. “After the sessions given by the teacher, I learnt not to make fun of anyone.Now I am aware that I should respect my colleagues while speaking to them.We should be close to everyone because we are sisters and brothers,” Khachnaf explains.
“The kids represent their parents, so there is something being discussed at home, and the kids bring the issue to class,” Rania shares.“We also explained that the teacher might have in the same class, students from different nationalities and religions but she does not distinguish between them.”
The social cohesion among these students is shown by the same idea they all emphasized on. The three of them mentioned the importance of brotherhood to them in school. They are committed individuals to the efforts of the group. Through the perseverance of their teacher and their director, that gave attention to the vision of these students,the children realized that together they can do so much.