Jordan (MNN) — Tomorrow is World Teachers’ Day, a day dedicated to celebrating the profession worldwide. This year’s theme focus is “Young Teachers: The future of the Profession”. Today, we are marking the celebration early with a nod to the teachers dedicating their lives to educating displaced children and vulnerable children.
Teachers of Refugees in Jordan
(Photo courtesy of Tent Schools International via Facebook)
Rawan Haddad, Development Director for Tent Schools International, told us about Dawlat, a passionate principal educating Iraqi refugee children in Jordan. Most of the kids at Dawlat’s school, Good Shepherd Center, were traumatized when fleeing their home country. These kids carry deep scars, making their time in the classroom look different from average students. But Dawlat and her teachers are doing everything they can to help these kids heal.
Dawlat and her teachers take training classes to prepare them for working with kids who have experienced trauma. These classes teach them how to handle various situations with the kids as well as assist in the healing process.
Occasionally a student who does not speak will enter the classroom. It’s not that the child is mute; his or her language simply differs from the Arabic spoken in Jordan. But sometimes, it’s not even that simple. Sometimes, these kids are trying to escape their world by isolating themselves.
The teachers’ work does not end with the school day.
“They visit [the kids’] families at home, just like hear from them about their life. What’s happened to them at home, and even in Iraq, about their behaviors at home. They just work together as a team with their family to just make these kids be better and better. So, they are amazing,” Haddad explains.
Help Tent Schools support teachers
Many of the teachers working with Tent Schools partners have chosen underpaid positions because they care so deeply about the displaced children they educate. Still, these teachers need to afford to live. As their families grow, so do their expenses. Emily Klooster, Executive Director for Tent Schools, says that’s why Tent Schools helps fund teachers’ salaries through its fundraising campaigns.
(Photo courtesy of Tent Schools International via Facebook)
Tent Schools also provides teachers with PTSD resources specially developed through a pediatric therapist. Tent Schools also sells these same resources on Amazon for the general public. They are also available as a free download on their website. Find the resources here.
Will you help Tent Schools continue its work of supporting teachers? A tangible way to get involved is through monthly giving. Klooster invites you to join Tent Schools’ monthly giving program, called Circle of Friends.
However, both Haddad and Klooster ask for you to pray for these teachers by name, beginning with Dawlat.
“She has the perfect skill set for the work that she does, and years of dedication to the Good Shepherd Center. And doing her work with very little pay, which she signed up for, she’s all about it. But just prayers for her for financial security, for her own mental health because as you point out the second-hand trauma thing can happen. And for the educators under her care,” Klooster says.
To learn more about Tent Schools, click here.
Header photo courtesy of Tent Schools International.
