Updates from Jordan: New School Year, New Updates!

Dear Supporters,

Happy October! The TSF team is back from an extremely productive trip in Jordan with tons of updates to share!  Read on to learn more.

New School Year, New Backpacks!

The new school year started in the beginning of September and our students are excited to be back in the classroom! This September, TSF made sure that nearly 500 children had new backpacks filled with essential school supplies to start the year off right. 

Teacher Prep

We held an all-staff meeting at The Azraq School to discuss teaching methods, our new employee handbook and updated contracts. TSF is rolling out new evaluation models this semester, and the teachers are working on establishing committees, student clubs and more.

 

Meetings With Ministries

We're committed to supporting the Jordanian Government's official Refugee Response Plan by ensuring that our programs align with Jordan's key priorities and support host communities. Our team recently spent time with the Ministry of Social Development where we hope to create long-lasting relationships with officials working in our field!

Ongoing Basic Needs Programming

TSF continues our regular work of distributing essential items like food and hygiene products. In September alone, we provided 550 food and hygiene packages to families across Northern Jordan through our partnership with The Annenberg Foundation. We're now gearing up for winter and will be organizing distributions of blankets, heater and warm winter clothes.

 

Collaborating With Public Schools

Jordan is making immense strides to help Syrian children enroll in formal education. In fact, today, nearly all of the students at The Azraq School also attend public school in the afternoons as part of the newly established second-shift system. But there is much work to be done. The second shift is only two hours per day and we know that our students need so much more. That's why we've been collaborating with the local school principal to assess our students' strengths, weaknesses, and places where we can continue to fill in any gaps through The Syria Fund's academic enhancement programs.

Spending Time With The Community

The last month was filled with meetings, contracts, form creations and more. We are thrilled to be starting the new school year off on the right foot and that meant a lot of work! But we made sure to spend quality time with the families we serve as well. Spending time with our community, sharing meals and swapping stories is an essential part of what we do and our relationships get stronger by the day! The families we serve have lost so much over the last 6 years, but they find the strength to carry on through community and family bonds. In that, we find so much hope for the future! 

The end of the year is rapidly approaching and we hope that you'll consider supporting The Syria Fund as part of your end-of-year giving! We're expanding our education programs and continuing our essential basic needs distributions. As always, we're committed to keeping overhead as low as possible to ensure that your donations go exactly where you intend! Please consider making a donation today!

With gratitude,
The Syria Fund team