- Title: MIDEAST: Syrian refugees learn new trades in Jordanian camp
- Date: 8th October 2014
- Summary: ZAARTARI CAMP, JORDAN (OCTOBER 7, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ZAATARI CAMP NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL OFFICES IN THE CAMP SIGN READING (Arabic and English): "Youth Programming in Zaatari Camp" WITH THE LOGOS OF NRC, UNICEF AND NORWEGIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS VARIOUS OF NRC OFFICES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RAED SAWALHA, ONE OF THE EMPLOYEES AT THE NRC YOUTH CENTRE, SA
- Embargoed: 23rd October 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Jordan
- Country: Jordan
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA64Y4N2822NB5RPT8FH10SF5LM
- Story Text: More than 200 young Syrian refugees are learning new trades in an education programme held by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) at the Zaatari Camp, with the aim of equipping them with new skills for the future, either in the camp or back in Syria.
Supported by the European Union and UNICEF, the training courses conducted across the NRC youth centres included tailoring, barbering, beautician arts, mechanics, electrical wiring, welding, office management and the only certified IT course in Zaatari Camp, according to an NRC statement.
"Centre began operating in May last year and it provides Syrian refugees in the Zaatari Camp aged between 16 and 32 years old with educational services and skills. The main aim behind this centre is to prepare young people with skills and to make use of them while at the camp and use these skills when they return to Syria and reconstruct the country or to obtain a skill he can benefit from in the future," Raed Sawalha, an employee at the NRC youth Centre, told Reuters TV.
Youth training centres started with a pilot project in the camp in early 2013, and soon expanded to both Azraq and the Emirati-Jordanian camps. While the courses are not formally certified, they offer young people a place to learn and receive support, and are the only youth-focused technical education programmes offered in the camps. As of September 2014, more than 2,500 Syrian youth have registered for the NRC Youth Programme, the statement said.
The trainees were enthusiastic about the three-month long courses.
"Sewing is a beautiful profession and it is a kind of art. All people must learn sewing and the profession is really beautiful. In the future the person can open his own business," said Abu Mohammad, who learnt tailoring and sewing skills.
"Three months ago, my friends told me that there was a barber's course taking part in the camp, so I thought to participate to learn this profession because I have some skills and I like to learn it. Thank God I learnt it, in the beginning I was scared, but gradually I overcame these stages and I finally learnt it, thank God," said a hairdressing trainee, Hassan Krad.
Zaatari Refugee Camp was established in 2012 to accommodate thousands of Syrians fleeing civil war in the neighbouring country.
It now hosts around 120,000 Syrians, but Jordan says it is overburdened with more than 600,000 United Nations registered refugees in the country - almost 15 percent of its population. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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