New Horizons Care Centre
New Horizons Care Centre
A day centre in the south of Lebanon serving about 30 children and their families, typically from marginalised and impoverished backgrounds, including Bedouin gypsies. The project also provides vocational skills to a group of teenage Syrian refugee girls, including jewellery-making and basic dress-making skills.
Our New Horizons Care Centre seeks to transform lives and elevate communities from poverty and hopelessness by providing practical and spiritual support to some of the most vulnerable children in south Lebanon. Most are those on the margins of society such as gypsies, Bedouins, and refugees. They typically live in basic tents constructed of plastic, iron, and wood, with limited access to water and electricity. Very few have received any formal education and many are illiterate.
The New Horizons Care Centre works with about 30 children. For the younger Bedouin kids, we provide a range of activities, including a basic education (primarily Arabic, English and maths), as well as nutritious snacks, sports and devotions. We also provide vocational skills to 18 of the older refugee girls, including micro-enterprise activities. This includes our jewellery-making programme, which gives young women business knowledge and a skill with real income potential.
We also work with two partner organisations who help provide basic medical care to people in the community.
As we explore ways to further reach out to children here, we remain committed to sharing the love of Christ in ways that will bring hope to those who need to hear they are loved and valued.
New Horizons Care Centre: A story of hope
Meet Rafiq (name and photo changed to protect privacy)
Rafiq is from an impoverished Dom (Gypsy) slum where his family lives in a flimsy house with no proper sanitation. Because his parents don’t value education, they were unwilling to register him for school, leaving him without hope of receiving any education.
Last year, though, he enrolled in our literacy programme, and when he arrived on the first day, it was clear he was not yet ready for the challenge. He had never sat at a table, been in a classroom, or even used a seated toilet. Feeling overwhelmed, he did not return again that year.
A year later, Rafiq once again enrolled in our first-year literacy programme, and we knew right away something was different. His attitude had completely changed. He was focused, polite, and eager to learn, and his attendance has been consistent throughout the year.
We are excited to see the change in him as well as knowing that a path to literacy can be a path out of poverty. What a blessing to be part of this ministry giving marginalised children like Rafiq a chance to enjoy the gift of education and be part of a loving Christian environment.
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