UNESCO launches innovative story writing program for Syrian refugees

29 / 09 / 2021

By Marwa Nassar - -

UNESCO launches a program for encouraging young Syrian refugees in Bekaa Valley to create stories and use digital tools in an innovative way that combines the useful with the pleasant.

“The aim is to develop the capacities of these young people for the future,” explains Dr. Hisham Ramadan, an engineer who heads the project. We are talking about digital skills but also soft skills like group work, communication, writing, reading, and creative thinking, all through an innovative method. It is also about achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and preparing youth for the challenges of the 21st century. Like SDG3 for healthy living and well-being, SDG4 for quality education, SDG5 for gender equality, and many more”.

Funded by the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid, in partnership with the Kayany Foundation, this program is part of the UNESCO project “Basic education for Syrian refugees”, initiated in 2018, and which offers more than 8,200 Syrian students educational and psychological support programs, and fosters an educational environment that stimulates learning through the support of 600 teachers.

So far, over 70 students aged between 14 and 15 have taken part in the storytelling program and produced 7 stories in a 4-step process: development of the idea and writing of the story, transformation into drawings, digitization, and finalization of the templates on computer. “They learn to use digital tools in an indirect way,” adds Dr. Ramadan. At no time do we tell them that they will learn how to use a software or a hardware, and it’s satisfying to see that the students are progressing without getting bored. On the contrary, they are all enthusiastic about helping each other and working together.”

“It was a more than exceptional experience,” says one participant in this regard. I learned a lot of information about using software, and how to write a successful story from the choice of the subject to the design.” “Thank you for this project in which I am really happy to take part, adds a young student. I have learned new skills, and I hope to be able to repeat this experience in the days to come.”

If participants have the choice to write the story they want by giving their imagination free rein, Hicham Ramadan assures that they are particularly eager to tell stories inspired by their own life or their personal experience. “This is the psychotherapeutic aspect of the project, because these children share their fears and feelings in these comics, and express themselves through their protagonists,” explains the expert.

In this regard, he notices that certain themes are recurrent through the stories, such as fear or the loss of a loved one. “Many of these stories have to do with insecurity,” he says. Like those about the absence of a father or the problems of a father who is not able to support his family. They also feature characters like heroes or saviors who come to save the situation by miracle, sometimes even by using magic. With the teachers, we moderate these elements by explaining that this does not happen often in real life, while trying not to end up with dramatic or unhappy stories. These stories remain, in a way, an escape for these children from their daily lives…”