The Syrian Arab Republic

Syrian Teenager Builds School For Refugees, Honoured with Awards

By Swedish News Team, Originally in English 2018.03.10

Teenage Syrian refugee, Mohamad Al Jounde, won the 2017 International Children’s Peace Prize for establishing a school in Lebanon to provide education to hundreds of Syrian refugee children. When Mohamad became determined to build a school for learning in the Bekaa Valley refugee camp, he was only twelve years old. He managed to convince his relatives and volunteers to build the school, then offered various classes to students, including English, mathematics and photography. Now, three years later, the refugee school has over 200 students starting from the age of five and professional teachers who also provide adult classes in literacy and gender equality.

The International Children’s Peace Prize was established in 2005 by the Netherlands-based KidsRights Foundation, which is committed to offering support for as well as empowering vulnerable children worldwide. Expressing his passion for the project, Mohamad said, “This is not just about teaching reading and writing, but giving young refugees a safe space to express themselves.” He also shared, “I felt happy to be not just a teacher, but a friend, and we became a family, we are stronger together.”

Hearing about Mohamad’s outstanding work for refugee children, Supreme Master Ching Hai decided to honour him with the Shining World Hero Award and US$20,000 to help further the children’s education in the camp. The award letter is shown below.

On March 10, 2018, a group of our Swedish and English Association members travelled to meet with Mohamad and his father, and presented him with the Shining World Hero Award. Mohamad’s father was very happy to welcome us into his home and gracefully prepared some vegan food. Mohamad is also a young enthusiastic filmmaker and was eager to share footage of his school.

Our warm congratulations, Mohamad Al Jounde, for your International Children’s Peace Prize and Shining World Hero Award. May your school be blessed with much success in bringing precious education to the students and act as an inspiration for many others to follow.