We were deeply saddened by the recent death of our friend Ramzi Nadim Choueiri. Although most well-known as the celebrated ‘Chef Ramzi’, he was also the charismatic and dedicated leader of our partner Al-Kafaàt Foundation, which in Arabic means ‘abilities’. Founded by his father, its mission is to empower those living with disabilities or disadvantages in Lebanon.

Key to this mission is their inclusive Notre Dame School. We asked the staff at the school to explain a bit about what they do and they challenges the school has recently been facing:

We are a regular academic school, from kindergarten till grade 12 and currently have 181 students.  

But mainly, and this is our particularity, we receive students with learning disabilities, physical disabilities or severe social disadvantages and we help them overcome their challenges, stay integrated in a regular academic school, and progress. We receive children from all over Lebanon, whatever their religion or background.  

We believe in capacities and humanity so students with physical disabilities who join us are treated on the same social and intellectual basis as any other students. The focus on their capacities, disregarding their physical condition, is a core value of the school. 

Like all schools in Lebanon, we are trilingual: we teach Arabic; French as a second language (and all scientific courses are in French: Maths and sciences); and English as a third language. We prepare our students to succeed in the Lebanese Baccalaureate in order to join a university; or to join a vocational training school so they can obtain a Lebanese technical baccalaureate. 

The Lebanese education curriculum is taught to all our students, from kindergarten to Baccalaureate. But differentiated instructions with individualized intervention are made for the students with learning disabilities, depending on their needs, capacities and way of learning, to help them succeed. 

The students with disabilities also have an Individualized Rehabilitation Plan and receive the therapies they need in order to improve their skills: physical, occupational, psycho-motor, and speech therapies. 

2021-2022 was a very difficult academic year and the current 2022-2023 academic year is also very difficult on many levels. We are still facing an extreme economic crisis. We have to deal with new situations every day. Things keep becoming worse. We encounter a lot of poverty. Our pupils from disadvantaged social backgrounds, have seen their situation worsening due to the severe economic crisis. People are sad and depressed.  

Working conditions have been very hard (lack of electricity, limited budgets, fatigued personnel…). For example, with no fuel it was complicated to use the elevator for the children on wheelchairs. Some days these children couldn’t come to class because they had no electricity at home and couldn’t go down the stairs. 

The biggest success and challenge in 2022 was to maintain the inclusion itself and be able to deal with different cases in a very bad situation in the country. The learning gaps were our main concern, especially with the students having a disability. 

We have done a lot of adaptations to our teaching methods to motivate our kids and keep them interested in learning. Our aim is helping them reach their objectives, overcome their challenges, learn, stay integrated and progress. 

We have to work hard, but we keep faith. The best thing to do in these difficult times is to take care of our students and offer them hope for the future.

Because they are the future.