Wheels of Change will launch in 2023

January 18, 2023

Emily Klooster

Our year-end campaign in 2022 raised over $100,000 for mobile schools in the Middle East, enabling us to reach new refugee children in Lebanon and soon, Jordan.

This past fall, we brought you an opportunity: your support of the Wheels of Change campaign would fund a project in Lebanon reaching hundreds of new refugee students in Bekaa Valley. This campaign would solve three key problems that were slowing impact for our innovative partner there: a lack of vocational training for girls, mobile-school classes reducing in winter, and a limited reach due to staff shortages.

Until recently, girls had no opportunity for vocational training to match the boys’ classes in electrical skills. This was a disparity that had to be addressed quickly. In the Middle East, as in many parts of the world, gender norms are still in place around vocations; knowledge of sewing guarantees a girl a way to provide for her family in the future.

“There is nothing to do for girls in the camps,” said TSI’s Rawan Haddad, who lived outside the Zaatari camp in Jordan for four years ministering to Syrian refugees. “The sewing program gives them purpose and dignity.”

"There is nothing to do for girls in the camps. The sewing program gives them purpose and dignity."

Rawan Haddad Development Director, Middle East Liaison

A successful launch for the sewing program

The sewing program began serving 150 women and girls the day it launched. Funding from Wheels of Change will be used to keep classes running and to purchase tools and materials. “Wherever we go [with the mobile school] we can launch the program,” said project leader Pastor Joseph Milan.

Another problem: weather was limiting the number of students reached. The mobile school functions as one heated indoor classroom and two outdoor classrooms under tarps flanking the truck. Winters are cold in the mountains, and student numbers drop as the weather shifts. The school’s new heated basecamp tent will allow our partner to continue instruction throughout the year. Wheels of Change funding will also allow the mobile school to reach more camps in warmer weather as they hire additional staff for morning, afternoon and evening shifts.

Thanks to you, we are also closing in on the support goal for our partner school in Jordan this year. We look forward to updating you in 2023!

Thank you for partnering with us in this important work! Follow us on our blog and on social media for photo and video updates on Wheels of Change.