"Spring of Life" Center for Children At Risk

The "Spring of Life" center was founded in the Nabaa area to shelter, educate, feed, and minister to poor, abandoned, or abused children.

Goals and vision

We believe that working with the Nabaa children is extremely important mainly because most of them are unable to attend school. They are at risk of becoming delinquents and therefore outcasts, if not a danger to the society.

The "Spring of Life" center aims to:

• Providing a day shelter to keep children from being on the streets.
• Providing programs of basic education and offering home work
• assistance.
• Developing the children's moral, spiritual and social skills to become healthy, responsible, and successful citizens.
• Providing care and help in ways of food, clothes and medical assistance whenever possible.
• Counseling and helping their families.

History

We have been involved in ministry work in Nabaa  for over 10 years now to cater for the pressing needs detected in that region. We have visited children’s homes and made summer camps for them. Finally in 2006, by God's help and through our friends, we managed to rent two apartments that became the “Spring of Life” center. It took us a lot of prayers and labor to renovate and refurbish the center to receive sixty children.

About the children

Our center hosts more than fifty students aged between 5 and 15, of various nationalities: Lebanese, Egyptian, Sudanese, Iraqis, Kurds, Syrians, Armenians and others. They are of different religious and cultural backgrounds. Most of them live in very poor houses and come from dysfunctional families. So, often, there is no one to teach them how to read or write. Furthermore, some have to work to make a living.

Programs

Spring of Life center has 2 remedial programs for children, a morning shift and an afternoon shift, in addition the center provides medical and rescue programs for families and adults.

• The morning program
  
  • Daily, from 8:00am - 2:00 pm. It is designed to eradicate illiteracy for children who are unable to attend schools due to: inability to adapt, in aquisition of proper official IDs, and/or being overage. This program enables the children to enter private institutes after having empowered them morally and spiritually to be part of the society.
    
  • We teach them the following subjects: Arabic and English languages, math, science, art, and computer literacy.
    
• The afternoon program
  
  • From 2:30 pm - 6:30 pm. After providing a healthy meal, the center offers counseling and homework assistance to another group of children who attend regular schools but have nobody to help them study. [Same age groups]
    
• Every Sunday
  
  • Educational and Fun activities open for all the children of the area from 3:00 pm- 5:00 pm.
    
  • A support (guidance) morning program for mothers & ladies of the area.
    
• Other occasional programs
  
  • A free medical consultation program for children and parents
    
  • Distribution of food
    
  • Seasonal camps and excursion trips for children

Our Aspirations

• A free medical consultation program for children and parents
  
• Distribution of food
  
• Seasonal camps and excursion trips for children

Nabaa is one of the poorest areas in Beirut. It is full of children at risk of homelessness. But the Lord founded this center and His hand is working through us in many children’s lives. Therefore, we would like to continue what we started years ago and develop it by the grace of God.

Thank you for your cooperation and personal, moral, spiritual and financial support.