School in a Bus
Before the School in a Bus arrived, Aseel, 5, had never attended a single day of school.
Her family fled Syria twelve years ago and moved constantly, from Arsal to Bekaa to other areas, searching for work. The moves forced her older siblings to drop out.
When they finally settled in Ketermeya Camp, her father, who suffers from thyroid disease, worked as a carpenter to provide for them. With her mother’s diabetes and the family’s daily struggles, enrolling the children in school was not possible.
Then the bus arrived at their camp. Aseel and her sister Sulaf enrolled, and everything Aseel had missed started coming together.
She learned to recognise letters in Arabic and English. She wrote her own name for the first time, and activities like colouring developed skills she’d need for formal school.
For a 5-year-old who never had access to school, the School in a Bus became her first classroom, her first step towards her dream of becoming a teacher.