Young Rappers Work to Educate Syria’s Refugee Children

Young Rappers Work to Educate Syria’s Refugee Children

LONDON—

An appeal to world leaders is calling on them to raise $750 million to educate a million Syrian refugee children living in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. A short movie has been produced to highlight the transformational opportunities a place at school can have.

‘With a smile and strength we will shape tomorrow.’

The optimistic rap lyrics¹ of Samir, Abdulrahman and Mohamed – three refugee brothers who want to be Syria’s hottest hip² hop³ stars.

"Our band is called Fire Rap. The band members’ stage names, are Samir, Amir and Jami," said 13-year-old Samir.

The brothers fled Syria to Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley four years ago with their parents. They are among the more fortunate refugee children – they have places at a local school where they have honed their musical skills alongside a proper education.

Ben Hewitt is from the charity ‘Theirworld’ which commissioned the movie, titled ‘Straight Outta Syria’.

“The aim of this film is to raise awareness⁴ of the need to get every child into school. And we’ve chosen to focus on talents, on the potential of young people. And so people can see there’s a generation of young Syrians who are in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan out of school, and there’s lost potential," said Hewitt.

Theirworld estimates there are close to a million refugee children who are not in school – and that makes them vulnerable to child labor⁵, early marriage, exploitation and extremism.

The charity wants to expand the so-called ‘double shift’ system that they say is working well in Lebanese schools – where local children attend in the morning, and refugee children in the afternoon.

Back at school, the three brothers perform songs in front of their classmates about fleeing the war in Syria – to rapturous applause.

"When I grow up I would like to write humorous songs. Because I don't like to write about misery," said 12-year-old brother Abdulrahman.

Hewitt says getting a place in school is about more than just learning.

“One, it gives them longer term hope. But also it gives them shorter term stability, gets them back into the classroom they’re in a safe environment, they’re learning and they’re focused," he said.

The charity is hoping to build support for the campaign ahead of a Syria Donors⁶ conference in London next month.

1 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

2 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

3 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

4 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》