Good Shepherd School

Asia Lebanon The Middle East Education Humanitarian & Emergency Assistance Loving Children

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Good Shepherd School

Responding with Love

When Rev. Emil Bourizk, a Lebanese Anglican clergyman, returned from eight years of ministry in Tunisia, he was shocked by the living conditions and treatment of Syrian refugees. He and his wife witnessed children as young as four being forced to work as slave labourers in the fields.

Out of this, Rev. Emil and his wife built strong relationships with Syrian families and developed the idea of starting a school for their children. The response was overwhelmingly positive and the school quickly grew in number to around 52 children with many more children wanting to learn.

Good Shepherd needs ongoing support to expand and maintain the school’s capacity by building safe and weather-proof facilities for staff and students.

The Life of a Refugee

Leaving behind everything familiar, fleeing into the night full of fear, the refugee life is difficult to imagine. Consider entering a foreign land for refuge, being unable to work and treated like you’re not wanted, with no way to deal with the pain and loss you have experienced. This is the case for many Syrian refugees currently seeking asylum in Lebanon.

Children are often at the coalface of the long list of hardships facing Syrian refugees in Lebanon. If they are fortunate enough to have at least one parent alive they are often left locked up and unattended at home as their parents go searching for desperately needed food and supplies. Children, particularly in the case of orphans, are extremely vulnerable to being kidnapped and forced into child labour.

Unattended, uneducated, undernourished and underdeveloped; the situation for these children is dire.