In case you missed it, you can read Part 1 here.

04/09/2019 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – “We try to [help] students to have dreams, and to love education,” explained Kirolos.

It is challenging. Culture tells these Christian children that they will forever be second-class citizens, and that dreams have no place in their lives. The educational system is substandard and leaves students unprepared for modern life.

Hope House is constantly adapting to reflect the needs of each class of students. “There are a lot of students who don’t read or write well,” said Kirolos. “We started using a new teaching method that depends on vocalization of the alphabet. [Now], we have some students in the first and second primary who can read and write very well.” As a second primary student, Jesse is one of many students who has excelled through this tailored educational approach.

Mariam is another student who has greatly benefited through Hope House. “I don’t like my [official] school as I can’t understand the lessons which are being taught by the teachers there,” she shared with ICC. “[Hope House] here is good. I feel that I understand everything that is being taught to me.”

Amin, another student, echoed this feeling. “At [Hope House], if I don’t understand any information during the explanation of any lesson, I can ask the teacher and he clearly reinterprets it many times until I understand it very well. But at my [official] school, the teachers don’t do that.”

With so many students in need, Hope House is a constant bustle of activity. Students constantly whirl between Arabic, English, computer, and math classes.

Hope House also has a program that serves illiterate women, many of whom are mothers of the students. Microfinance loans are available to the mothers and fathers of the children, giving the parents the chance to start their own businesses. Hope House is actively building up an entire Christian community, giving Christians the tools and capital they need to thrive in an otherwise hostile country.

Without Hope House, many of these beneficiaries would be stuck in a cycle of generational poverty and limited opportunity, perpetuated by a culture of religious discrimination. It is for this reason that Kirolos counts Hope House as his life’s greatest privilege.

For interviews, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org