This past April, during Eid al-Fitr – a celebration as significant as New Year’s – the SSSP Small School Support Project completed an incredible mission: delivering 1,400 brand-new backpacks to children in the Rukban refugee camp. Organizing such a large-scale initiative took nearly two months of planning and required the coordination of resources across four countries. It wasn’t an easy task, but seeing the smiles on the children’s faces as they received backpacks—something many hadn’t seen in years—made it all worthwhile!

During the first round of distribution, 1,263 backpacks were handed out, with the extra ones stored at the camp’s school for future use. Now, six months later, we’re thrilled to share that the impact of this initiative has extended beyond our expectations.

The presence of new school supplies helped rebuild trust in education within the camp. Families that were once hesitant to send their children to school began seeing the value of education and allowed their children to attend after the summer break.

With the confirmation that children’s enrollment is long-term, we acted on our plan to distribute the remaining 137 backpacks. This week, these backpacks were delivered proportionately to eight schools within the camp to welcome new students who joined after summer.

A total of 137 backpacks were distributed across eight schools in the Rukban refugee camp: Spring Song School received 39 backpacks, Al-Najaat 26, Al-Bayt Al-Tadmuri 25, Palmyra (Al-Hay Al-Tadmuri) 16, Al-Salam 10, The Khaldie House 9, Dakaka 9, and Al-Koufia 3.

Rukban refugee camp remains a challenging environment under blockade, where access to resources, manpower, and information is extremely limited. Despite these difficulties, SSSP is committed to providing educational support to refugee children and ensuring transparent communication with all those who care about this vital cause.

Together, we are making a difference. Thank you to everyone who supports our mission and helps us create hope in one of the toughest places on Earth.