We sat down with Malek Alwadi from Binaa for Development to learn about their education infrastructure project with the Solidarity Fund.
BINAA teams hard at work repairing infrastructure @BINAA
"Binaa is an engineers’ organisation so most of our staff are engineers.
We work mainly in the shelter and WASH clusters on infrastructure.
Both inside and outside cities, we are working in rehabilitation and early recovery.
As an example, we have rehabilitated and extended sewage and water systems, installed water stations, and provided equipment like generators and pumps. We are also proud to provide solar systems for theseprojects.
So, when the earthquake struck, we had the experience and the capacity to respond in several sectors. We started with debris removal from more than 10 communities.
We provided life saving assistance to earthquake survivors, such as fuel for heating, stoves and food baskets. We also built dignified shelters in Aleppo and Idlib, where we received more than 100 families in each site. We also worked to reopen roads that had been damaged in the affected communities.
We are currently conducting rehabilitation work for infrastructure like like schools and hospitals to ensure they are able to offer services to the community again.
We applied to the Solidarity Fund after we saw the call for proposals for LNNGOs working in Türkiye and Syria. We were awarded a grant to implement very specific activities.
The first is to rehabilitate two schoolsthat were damaged, first during the war in Syria, and then during the earthquake. The school has 880 students, 412 of whom are female. After we have finished ensuring the structures and facilities are sound, we will also provide classroom furniture.
Another important activity is establishing a friendly space for the children affected by the earthquake. We will create and equip the space and a child protection specialist will run the space. The protection team may also make referrals if necessary, to facilities with more specialised care. We also have mobile outreach teams, which include female staff, who conduct awareness sessions for the children, women and the vulnerable.
The rehabilitation work will be done by July or August because the schools will open on the first of September, so we will conduct this campaign to encourage people to send their children to school.
Ahead of the start of the new academic year, there will also be training for teachers on how to be prepared and respond in emergency situations like the earthquake.
Our experience of applying for the Fund was simple and quick compared with other funding resources. Post-disaster interventions play a crucial role in facilitating the restoration of normalcy in the lives of affected individuals, with a particular emphasis on rehabilitating damaged infrastructures to resume delivering essential services to the affected population. Interventions such as this fund are of paramount importance as they enable communities to recover and rebuild after a catastrophic event, ensuring that people can regain a sense of stability and continuity.