Nasser Mostafa Al Khalaf stays at a camp in Taybe, Baalbeck after his family escaped the Syrian crisis in 2012. It was supposed to be Nasser’s first year at school then, but the family moving and leaving everything behind to start from scratch ruined Nasser’s opportunity to learn and attend any school.
Nasser’s father works in construction, and thus, he spends most of his time outside. Although he never attended school, Nasser’s father could read and write to an extent. The father was aware of his son’s illiteracy, so he used to educate Nasser daily when he comes home; he taught him the alphabet and tried to make him spell and write words. Nasser got his basic information at home until he turned 10 years old, after which he had to become the young man helping his father at work so the family survives.
When LOST’s outreach team was conducting door-to-door visits to refugee camps for the BLN cycle being provided in the town, they met Nasser. There were many children at the camp, but Nasser’s reaction to the news was priceless and unique. Nasser was very enthusiastic to learn, and so were his parents.
Nasser registered in the BLN cycle at LOST’s Ansar center and everything was going smoothly until the teachers noticed Nasser’s absence for a whole week. Teachers visited the family and were told that Nasser can no longer attend his classes because it was time for him to work with the Shawish in the potato fields.
A few weeks later, LOST began providing afternoon BLN classes for cases such as Nasser’s. The family was informed and Nasser joined the classes again with more excitement and hope, as he never skipped a class during the whole cycle.
It was clear from the very beginning that Nasser is an excelling student, but the surprise was his very outstanding performance and improvement that exceeded all expectations. One month into the cycle, Nasser could read, write full sentences, and solve mathematical equations. Moreover, Nasser began to help his friends in class, as he also volunteered to assist his teachers in explaining to his friends using their accent. Teachers appreciated Nasser’s excitement and sense of responsibility and depended on him in affecting his peers to perform better.
The improvement Nasser made was huge. Teachers were able to tell how shy Nasser was when the team was outreaching to students, he even said that he did not have friends to inform them about the cycle. During the cycle, Nasser’s personality became more social, funny, and responsible. Nasser made new friends in class; in his neighborhood, he started to knock at their doors when it’s class time so they won’t be late.
One day, Nasser came and informed his teacher about an incident. He stated, “yesterday when I finished working in the potato field, I went to my boss and told him that we have filled 25 bags, as I also informed him that we still have 7 empty bags to use after I subtracted the number of the used ones”. He described how surprised and impressed his boss was after knowing that Nasser has done the correct calculations. Having reached this level, the landlord asked Nasser to monitor the work and count the daily production.
On the other hand, Nasser’s mother visited LOST’s BLN center one afternoon to inform the staff that Nasser started to teach his younger sister Noura the material he is learning. It is worth mentioning that Noura wanted to join the classes, but she had to stay at home and take care of her younger siblings during her mother’s absence.
At the end of the cycle, Nasser said, “I feel that I have achieved something huge, and I will not stop here. I will study more and become a teacher, and mentor all the children at the camp. Thank you UNICEF and LOST for helping me and all the illiterate children”.
