First appeared on Ctrl.Alt.Shift on March 9 2011

Amy Hall reports on the work of Mouvement Social in Lebanon and how they combine creative space with academic excellence and support for young people…

In education when too much emphasis is put on exams, league tables and grades, the opportunity for creativity can be neglected. But the arts can also be a great healer and outlet for frustration.

Mouvement Social, a Christian Aid partner in Lebanon, promotes the value of creativity, as well as access to a good academic education. They are a volunteer movement of young people who provide social services to Lebanon’s poorest and most marginalised communities, including making sure children who have been excluded from school get a good education.

Christian Aid Communications Officer Tabitha Ross visited Lebanon and spoke to young people who had been to Mouvement Social schools. Children traumatised by conflict can be disruptive in school which often leads to exclusions. Widespread poverty means many parents can’t afford to send their children to school if there are no free ones locally. Also, some children are excluded from Lebanon’s school system on grounds of nationality,  such as the children of Syrians or Kurds working in the country.

Ali Al Afee, who is 14 years old, is a pupil at one of Mouvement Social’s schools. He was expelled from his last school after a cycle of violence: “I got angry whenever someone spoke to me. I also used to hit teachers – and the teachers used to hit me too, with a big stick.”

Ali lived through the war in Lebanon in the summer of 2006 during which his neighbour was killed after a bomb fell on his house. Now he dreams of being a film director: “I like the arts. The theatre helps people to express themselves and talk about the important things in life.”

16 year old Hanan Madyak’s parents had been too poor to send her and her sister to school before she found out about Mouvement Social alternative education centres, which are free. After training in photography she is now an intern at a studio that has offered her a job when she finishes her education.

“Mouvement Social created a 180° turnaround in my life,” she says. “If I’d not come here, I’d have stayed at home, learning nothing. There’s many girls in this situation.”

Hossam Houhou is now aged 17 and says his life has also turned around. He went to extra classes and a summer school provided by Mouvement Social and now helps run the issues based theatre workshops on things like domestic violence, drug abuse and the differences between people.

Mouvement Social also puts great importance on achievement in the more academic areas of school as Ali explains: “The rules here are strict.  There’s an evaluation system and you get penalties for violence… I think it’s a good system.”

Mouvement Social’s combination of creative freedom and high standards of academic teaching are made stronger by its commitment to Citizenship, defined by Hossam as: “How to accept the other.”

“The solution is to work on yourself and accept others, and then society will change.”