The civil war in Syria has destroyed a lot of things, including their environment, economy and educational system. Since the war started, schools in the country have been bombed, and up to 200,000 students who were in college have been left educationally stranded. A lot of them have been misplaced from their homes, and there is currently no hope in sight. An Educational aid group called Books Not Bomb has come to the rescue of some women who are displaced at Barnard College by establishing a scholarship scheme for them.
The Books Not Bomb educational relief program is an initiative of some young activists in the U.S, and they have succeeded in making some universities in the U.S to carve out funds for the education of scholars in Syria. This initiative had spread through almost 200 universities and was only impeded when President Donald Trump made moves to ban the issuance of visas to some Islamic countries, one of which is Syria. Although this ban has been placed on hold by the decree of a Hawaiian Federal High Court Judge, confusion and chaos have already been planted in the minds of Syrian refugees and immigrants who intend to move to the U.S.
It will, however, be noted that even before Trump made attempts at the travel ban, Syrian scholars has been having some challenges trying to secure a U.S visa, but even with the present situation, the campaign coordinator, Shiyam Gaylock believes that the initiative would still succeed in its aim. According to her, about 2,500 Syrian scholars have already resettled in the United States.
The Books, not Bomb Initiative is a brain child of the Students Organize for Syria, which is a group of educational activists drawn from several U.S universities, with the aim of pressuring their schools into establishing tuition free or scholarship schemes for students from Syria. They also aim to make their schools become part of the IIE’s Syria Consortium, to publicize and make available scholarship offers which would favor Syrian scholars.
The Books Not Bombs initiative has made a great impact so far, as it succeeded in making the University of California to not only become a part of the consortium but to also grant scholarship to five graduate and one undergraduate scholars from Syria. In collaboration with the Graduate Student Government, the activists have also been able to create an emergency fund which gives out $20,000 to scholars from countries affected by the travel ban, for renewal of visas. One of the campus coordinators of the initiative, Chris Lo-Records said that the group does not have any political motives in mind and that the only thing they aim at is to make education accessible to everybody even in war-torn areas.
Gaylon recalled that even during the Nazi crisis, lots of refugee scholars who migrated to the US were able to continue their education and make their impact in the world. He said that the United States soil has always served as a land of hope for students seeking refuge. She also said, and scholars in the United States would most likely never have issues with getting an education. She lamented that there are lots of scholars in Syria, some of which are her family members- as she is Syrian American- who has been displaced and may not get a shot at acquiring an education in the United States soil under the environment Trump is creating. She called on American activists to use the crisis in Syria to realize the amount of violation of human rights going on in the world and to act and speak up against all forms of it.
The majority of members pioneering the Books Not Bombs movement are Muslim women, and according to Gaylon, the voices of Muslim women are becoming louder as a result of the platform created by social media, and the world should expect to hear those voices more.