Winter hits Lebanese school kids
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Shivering with cold,
six-year-old Anthony Touma strives to hold his pen still in his hands as he carefully forms his Arabic letters.
World Vision MEERO, http://meero.worldvision.org
World Vision MEERO, http://meero.worldvision.org
Wearing thick wool gloves on his hands and shivering with cold, six-year-old Anthony Touma strives to hold his pen still in his hands as he carefully forms his
Arabic letters.
'I'm cold,' little Anthony shyly whispers, 'but I can't write with my gloves on.'Anthony is one of the 130 pupils who attend Saint Laba school in Hasroun, one of the seven most poorly heated schools in Becharré district in North Lebanon. Poverty in the area combined with the cold winter temperatures of the mountains, means the school has barely enough money to operate, let alone buy enough heating fuel to warm the school for students.
'Even when we turn on the heating system from 6 to 12 am, our school is still freezing cold, but we can't do better than that,' Sister Helen Mounzer, the school's administrator explains. 'We can't turn the heater for longer as we try to be as economical as possible.' Saint Laba is a public school where parents must pay about US$300 a year to attend – cheap by Lebanese standards, but well out of reach for many parents, especially after the economic stagnation in Lebanon as a result of the war. This year fewer fees meant less money for heating fuel. To meet the school's need, World Vision provided it with four tons of heating fuel, which according to Mounzer, will help to keep the school building 'relatively warm' for at somewhere between three to four weeks. Some parents can't even afford to pay this fee, which leaves the school with a very low income to manage its needs such as urgent reparations and purchasing heating fuel.
Located on a top of a hill in Hasroun, some 1,000 meters above sea level, Saint Laba convent was an old summer monastery for the Lazarites nuns, which, in 1975, was turned into a school. The high ceilings are ideal for staying cool in summer, but a nightmare to keep warm in winter. With temperatures dropping down to two degrees below zero Celsius in snowy wintertime, and rising to just three to four degrees Celsius on slightly warmer days, the school can barely stay above 10 degrees Celsius even with the extra fuel. 'Given that it was a summer monastery, the school is not properly equipped for winter needs,' Mounzer said. 'Yet we do not have the mean to improve our heating system and people keep telling us that it's a sheer miracle that the school is not set ablaze by our dubious electrical installations which are constantly damp due to leaking water.'
'The school, just as many other schools here in the area, still have many needs, especially after the recent war on Lebanon and its economic repercussions such as the increase of fuel prices,' said Kozhia Hanna, Becharré ADP manager. 'But we do what we can to insure that the minimum heating requirements are met in at least seven of the most needy schools in the area.'
The basic winterisation items distributed by World Vision to seven schools in Becharré district serve 1,600 boys and girls.
'I'm cold,' little Anthony shyly whispers, 'but I can't write with my gloves on.'Anthony is one of the 130 pupils who attend Saint Laba school in Hasroun, one of the seven most poorly heated schools in Becharré district in North Lebanon. Poverty in the area combined with the cold winter temperatures of the mountains, means the school has barely enough money to operate, let alone buy enough heating fuel to warm the school for students.
'Even when we turn on the heating system from 6 to 12 am, our school is still freezing cold, but we can't do better than that,' Sister Helen Mounzer, the school's administrator explains. 'We can't turn the heater for longer as we try to be as economical as possible.' Saint Laba is a public school where parents must pay about US$300 a year to attend – cheap by Lebanese standards, but well out of reach for many parents, especially after the economic stagnation in Lebanon as a result of the war. This year fewer fees meant less money for heating fuel. To meet the school's need, World Vision provided it with four tons of heating fuel, which according to Mounzer, will help to keep the school building 'relatively warm' for at somewhere between three to four weeks. Some parents can't even afford to pay this fee, which leaves the school with a very low income to manage its needs such as urgent reparations and purchasing heating fuel.
Located on a top of a hill in Hasroun, some 1,000 meters above sea level, Saint Laba convent was an old summer monastery for the Lazarites nuns, which, in 1975, was turned into a school. The high ceilings are ideal for staying cool in summer, but a nightmare to keep warm in winter. With temperatures dropping down to two degrees below zero Celsius in snowy wintertime, and rising to just three to four degrees Celsius on slightly warmer days, the school can barely stay above 10 degrees Celsius even with the extra fuel. 'Given that it was a summer monastery, the school is not properly equipped for winter needs,' Mounzer said. 'Yet we do not have the mean to improve our heating system and people keep telling us that it's a sheer miracle that the school is not set ablaze by our dubious electrical installations which are constantly damp due to leaking water.'
'The school, just as many other schools here in the area, still have many needs, especially after the recent war on Lebanon and its economic repercussions such as the increase of fuel prices,' said Kozhia Hanna, Becharré ADP manager. 'But we do what we can to insure that the minimum heating requirements are met in at least seven of the most needy schools in the area.'
The basic winterisation items distributed by World Vision to seven schools in Becharré district serve 1,600 boys and girls.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
