Background information on our projects
- Kindergarten for war orphans (Erbin)
The kindergarten for war orphans in Erbin is exclusively funded by our association. The facility is located in a cellar in order to shield the children from bombings. It comprises a large playing area of 450 m2, and six additional classrooms.The kindergarten primarily accommodates children who have lost their fathers or both parents in the war. The facility is completely free of charge for orphans. In some cases, the kindergarten will also accept children whose families live in extreme poverty. Children whose parents are alive pay a symbolic fee of roughly 1 euro.
The total amount of salaries of all kindergarten employees is of approximately 12500 euros a year. Thus, the institution also provides for a small income for the head teacher and her assistant, some 20 kindergarten teachers, a managing director, and a facility manager. Their wages range from about €47 for a teacher to about €86 for the director per month. For comparison, one kilogram bread, one kilogram rice, one kilogram sugar and one litre (olive) oil together cost approximately €50 at the moment.
At the beginning of summer 2016, the kindergarten accommodated 225 children. By the end of 2016, the number of children had already risen to 325. At the moment the nursery school is running at capacity with a total number of 450 orphans attending it every day. Unfortunately it cannot cater for any more children at the moment because there simply is not enough space.
In February, 2018, a severe airstrike hit our kindergarten and killed at least 15 children (see Press).
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- Looking for an appropriate location, autumn 2015.
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- Installation of the kindergarten, winter / spring 2016.
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- Installation of the kindergarten, winter / spring 2016.
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- Installation of the kindergarten, winter / spring 2016 (playing area).
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- Installation of the kindergarten, winter / spring 2016 (playing area).
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- Installation of the kindergarten, winter / spring 2016 (classroom).
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- Inauguration of the kindergarten, April 9th, 2016.
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- Orphans in the kindergarten, June 2016.
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- Orphans in the kindergarten, June 2016.
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- Medicine for the population (Erbin, Darayya)
Cases of polio have been reported in Syria in late autumn 2013. This disease had disappeared from the region fifteen years ago. In order to contain this scourge, our association has supported a vaccination campaign, notably in January 2014 in Erbin, and in spring 2016 in Darayya (see “Achievements”).
- Medical aid for emergency hospitals ( Al Mayadin, temporarily interrupted)The association Tübinger Syrienhilfe has provided support for small emergency hospitals in Al Mayadin (see “Achievements”). The following video shows a van carrying equipment for an operation theatre which has been funded by our association. The van and the medical equipment have been handed over to surgeon Dr. Hamza Allatif, then representative of the Local Coordination Committee for Medical Aid in Erbin, at the Turkish-Syrian border in spring 2013. Our association member Dr. Omar Alzayed drove the van all the way from Germany to the Syrian border.
Handing over the van (video)
- Reconstruction of damaged schools (accomplished project) (Al Mayadin)Some nine out of twenty-two million Syrians have fled to other regions in their own country. The United Nations do not count these people as war refugees but rather as internally displaced people (IDPs). It is not until they leave Syria and until they are registered by the UNO that they will be recognized as refugees. As many of these internally displaced people are among the very poor, they do not have the means to flee from Syria. And even if they could leave the country, they would not have any place to go to. This is why other Syrians, or even other refugees whose living conditions are hardly better take care of the IDPs. Many of these millions of refugees are accommodated in schools. It is due to the war, therefore, that children miss several years of school education. The war raises a generation of illiterates.
This is also the situation in Al Mayadin where countless refugees live in those school buildings that have not been destroyed by the air raids. The inhabitants of the city therefore wanted additional classrooms to be constructed both for their own and for the refugees’ children. In this way, the internally displaced refugees could stay in the old school buildings while the schools were able to resume classes in the new buildings. Furthermore, the school buildings have been equipped with new drinking water and sanitary installations, as well as with oil ovens (see “Achievements”). Moreover, the inhabitants of Al Mayadin can use these installations free of charge. Having been funded by our association, these installations represent a considerable improvement in people’s daily life as large parts of the sewage water system have also been affected by the war.
Restoration of drinking water and sanitary installations (first school)
Restoration of drinking water and sanitary installations (second school)