Teaching refugees in Lebanon

Name: Josephine Jacobs

Age: 25 years old

Country: Netherlands

Volunteer Work: Beirut, Lebanon

I met Josephine in Kandy, Sri Lanka while I was traveling from Ella. I was suppose to stay one night in the guesthouse she was working, but I ended up stay for two night. Sometimes when you meet nice people, with who you feel comfortable with, is difficult to leave. We exchange phone numbers, and we agree to meet up in Colombo and be travel buddies in the South till the end of our trip. We had something in common, both of us wanted to learn how to surf and we did learn it, but not really sure if we are good at it, but we are doing our best.

Here is her story...

When did you decide to do Volunteer work? Was it a decision you made whilst traveling, or was it something you decided to do whilst at home?

Actually I made the decision at home, because I knew I was going to travel for a long time and I always wanted to work, maybe with a NGO so I was already thinking before the trip that I wanted to work with different NGO's in different countries, just to see what I find interesting, how it is and if I like it. So, the volunteer work in Lebanon I planned in advance.

What influenced you to do volunteer work - was it a country based influence (i.e you fell in love with the country and wanted to work there) or, was purely an issue based influenced whereby you wanted to volunteer in a particular field?

The decision to go to Lebanon was because I find the Middle Est very interesting, so I wanted to see as many countries as possible, all of them is impossible, unfortunately, at the moment. But Lebanon in particular because I learned Arabic for a little bit, I wanted to learn the Arabic they talk in Lebanon, I thought that would be very interesting. I had worked with refugees before and I founded interesting the experience of working with them.

Why did you choose to volunteer in Lebanon, and what made you pick teaching English?

First of all, I wanted to go to Lebanon and I knew there were a lot of Syrians at the moment so, I knew I was going to find volunteer work with refugees. As a teacher what I wanted to do with the refugees was teaching English, so they could have a chance of a better future.

What was the project itself about?

The project was about teaching English in a refugee camp.

How did you go about finding the project, and what was the process for applying for the project?

The project was connected to a hostel. In Lebanon they don't have that much tourism, so they only have three hostels in Beirut, one of the hostels it's call Hostel Beirut, and they are a hostel and a NGO. They send volunteers from there to the refugee camp.

I found the hostel on the internet, just on Google, after three minutes of searching, and then I saw the pictures on the website, and read about the work they do. I sent them an email, they sent me an email back, telling me that I could go there, work a few days in the refugee camp and then we would see how what else I could do.

When I arrived there was still not clear if I would do volunteer work or not, because we talked vaguely. In the beginning I was going to the refugee camp every Wednesday, joining the people who was already there teaching English but in the end I went five days a week. I didn't know in the beginning if everything would work out fine, but in the end I was so happy that I had this experience, and had the chance to work in Lebanon in a refugee camp.

Was it purely unpaid volunteer work, or did you get paid to work at your project, or did you actually pay anything towards the project during your time there?

Normally with volunteer work you get accommodation and food, but with this one that wasn't the case. I didn't have to pay anything towards the project but I didn't get free accommodation or food either.

For how long did you undertake volunteer work?

I did it in the end for one and a half months, but were people there for 10 months already, just doing volunteer work. The NGO wanted volunteers to be there for at least three weeks. Was quite open for how long you could stay and help out.

How did you find the overall experience, changed you somehow?

Yes, I think so. Because I was a teacher in the Netherlands where everybody can go to school and most of the times you try your best to make the classes for the kids as interesting as possible, fun as possible to get their attention, and to make them motivated. But, I realize in Lebanon, going to school is such a luxury, most of the kids don't have that opportunity to study. Learn can help you go at least further in life, and I think for example, English in Lebanon can help the kids in the future, they might have to go to Europe, and English will be their key to live in a different country. I realized, again, that education is not something that you take for granted, is so many kids in the world that don't have access to school or any kind of education. But, in the Netherlands kids do take for granted and don't appreciate what they have, and the importance education have in our lives. Basically, change my perception of education.

What was your best and worse experience in Lebanon?

In the beginning was difficult and challenging , I only knew basic Arabic, so we had some problem with the kids, throwing chairs in the first class, and I didn't know what to say. But we talked with the organization, and that is very important to do, if you have any problem you should always talk with the people managing the project and discuss solutions together. We change a few things after that, so the teachers that were their teachers normally, came to our class as well, and worked very well. The teachers were learning English from us, and they were very happy, we gave them some material they could work with, and they could talk to the kids and give them assignments. The kids became more enthusiastic and everything worked properly. I hope they continue to work in that way now. So was a really good experience.

The worse was, I think, in one of the days that we helped with other project , we came back and in the camp people were very stress, moving around, passing by with big guns and we didn't know why. So a few minutes later we heard gun shots, coming from a fight between militias right next to us. One of my friends was by himself in other camp picking up other people, so makes you think how unsafe for kids this situation is and how bad the situation is. Is still things need to be changed in the world.

Would you do it again? If yes, would you choose the same country/the same type of project, or would you branch out to different concepts? If no, why would you not to volunteer again?

Yes, because I think I would really like to do more volunteer work with refugees. If I go back to the Netherlands I want to work with refugees. I would love to go back to Lebanon, maybe in the end of my trip and spend there maybe three months in the same place, and with the same kids hopefully.

Is there anything you would have done differently in regards to the project?

Maybe if I do it again I would email them in advance to ask them what they need, what can I bring with me that could help the kids in some way. Maybe collect money in advance and buy some stuff for them, like materials for school because they didn't have much. Maybe I would think in more ways that I could contribute.

Is there any advice or tips you would give to someone looking to be part of a volunteer project?

I think you should always take some time to research on the internet. A lot of organizations that offer volunteer work in different countries, they ask for money in advance to pay for the project and you never know where that money ends up going. So is better if you contact directly the place where you want to do the volunteer work, saves you a lot of money. Sometimes takes a bit of time to find the project but I think is worth it to take your time to do that. I advise that you think about what you want to learn and in each way you can contribute to the project.

What do you do back home?

At home I'm teaching Social Sciences in High School to 16 / 17 years old.

What is your next step from here? Do you continue to volunteer, or are you heading home, or do you have longer to travel - if yes, where is your next adventure?

Actually, after Lebanon I went to Sri Lanka, where I did some volunteer work as well, but mostly working in hostels, two different hostels, one in Kandy and another one in Mirissa. After this I will go to India, and I might do some others volunteer work.

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