Story to Strengthen the Organizational Base of NPO Piece of Syria
We want to convey the charm of Syria and make it a country people want to visit again
Maximizing the abilities of domestic and overseas staff by strengthening the organizational base
"Piece of Syria" has been working to provide education to children in Syria, where the civil war continues. Through the strengthening of the organizational base, in the first year, they worked to build an organization where pro bono staff and volunteers who support their activities can make the most of their abilities, and in the second year, they will work on fundraising.
[Reedited the contents published in THE BIG ISSUE JAPAN Edition 432 (published on June 1, 2022)]
A life of peace and abundance changed drastically by civil war
I went around talking to Syrian refugees
Mr. Takayuki Nakano, currently the executive director of Piece of Syria, first visited Syria in 2005. "After visiting a friend in Turkey while I was studying in Britain, I wanted to see the pyramids in Egypt, so I stopped by Syria on my way by land. Not long after the Iraq War in 2003, I was worried about security, but it was safe even at night. When I was walking down the street, I was stopped and treated to a cup of tea. I was surprised at the hospitality and the security."
In 2008, he returned to Syria as a member of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers. "During my two-year term in office, I was invited to home by many people there and received a warm welcome. In Syria, at that time, medical and educational expenses were free. People worked until two in the afternoon and then spent the rest of the day with their family. The prices were cheap, and they were able to support eight family members with an income of 100 or 200 dollars a month. It was peaceful and affluent, and the security was 20 times better than Japan."
One of the most memorable encounters was with a 12 year-old girl.
"She taught me Arabic and how women lived there. When I asked her about her dream for the future, she said, 'I want to build a school that makes children's dreams come true. And I want the children who grew up there to support someone else's dream. Adults say it's impossible, but you said I could do it. So I was able to have a dream,' she said."
However, in March 2011, one year after Mr. Nakano's term ended and he returned to Japan, the civil war broke out in Syria. "I thought it would end soon, so I was visiting Japanese schools to talk about my experiences in Syria, but the civil war didn't end, I couldn't enter Syria, and the girl's village was occupied by the Islamic State militant group. When I searched on the Internet, I found an execution ground in the schoolyard."
Not being able to stand by and watch, Mr. Nakano started to talk to Syrian refugees in neighboring countries since 2015 such as Jordan, Turkey and Sweden, as well as in Europe. What he heard there many times was, "I want my children to receive education for their future."
During that trip, he met a young Syrian refugee in Turkey who was working to bring education to Syria. "Empathizing with him who had the same dream as a Syrian girl to build a school that fulfills the dreams of children, we worked hand in hand through crowd-funding to start activities in 2016 to provide education to the most underserved areas of Syria."
Supporting 2,000 children learning at the kindergarten in Syria and the supplementary school in Turkey
Syria, which was so unstable that its power structure changed almost every day when they started activities, is now in a stalemate due to the decline of IS. Despite occasional attacks by Israel and Turkey, the public peace has been somewhat recovered.
"But the country is completely divided, the prices are 10 times higher, fuel is scarce and electricity is supplied one to three hours a day. They manage to make ends meet with remittances from their families living abroad as migrants or refugees."
Under these circumstances, Piece of Syria, in cooperation with local partner NGOs, supports a kindergarten in the suburbs of Aleppo in northwestern Syria. "In addition to playing, we focus on education such as Arabic, English and math, and also mental care. Some Syrian children no longer feel fear when they hear the sound of the bombing. Tuition is free and we accept children from needy families who are deprived of educational opportunities."
Another school Piece of Syria supports is a supplementary school in southern Turkey near the Syrian border. "Currently, Syrian refugee children living in Turkey can enroll in Turkish schools, but 35% of them cannot attend school because they cannot speak the language, are bullied or have to work."
Therefore, this supplementary school provides "a place to learn Turkish to go to school in Turkey, Arabic so that they won't have trouble when they return to Syria someday, and a place for activities that encourage interaction between Syrians and Turks."
So far, Piece of Syria has supported about 2,000 children learning at these two schools through the payment of teachers' salaries, utilities, writing utensils and solar panels.
At the same time, they continue activities in Japan to convey the Syria's history, culture and inherent affluence with the goal of "making Syria a country people want to visit again."
Identifying issues by consultant’s support
Organizing and visualizing the organizational structure and division of roles
However, Piece of Syria had its challenges. Only Mr. Nakano was fully committed to the activities, and activities were supported by pro bono members who had day jobs and student volunteer teams.
"We didn't have a chance to have a meeting with all members, and we were worried about how to maximize the power of the people involved."
Therefore, in 2020, as a voluntary organization, they applied for the NPO/NGO Support Fund for SDGs, and since 2021, they have been working to strengthen the organizational base.
"Due to COVID-19, online meetings have become popular and we can hold meetings and consult with members and partner NGOs in various countries. With the help of an outside consultant who knows a lot about non-profit activities, we were able to identify issues in the organization, and by making continuous improvements, we were able to turn the organization into an NPO."
In addition, they held a one-night, two-day training camp with a hybrid of online and face-to-face meetings, and discussed the ideal organizational structure and division of roles. In this discussion, they summarized the relationship with student volunteers and visualized it in stages from "experience" to "output," creating a table called "Student Journey."
In addition, as the vulnerability of project management in overseas projects was revealed, they decided to hold a meeting with partner NGOs once a month to grasp and share the current situation, together with a consultant in the United States who volunteered his time to participate in activities by pro bono.
"This year, the second year, we will strengthen our fundraising efforts with the addition of a staff member who has experience as a secretary-general of a certified NPO. This is because we want to increase the scale of our business and create further impact. In Syria, we are also working on a "vision work" in which we interview local people on what kind of future they want to create 10 years from now. We believe our role is to stand by them in realizing that future. We have also started an online tour where we connect with a Japanese-speaking Syrian guide on the Internet and get live coverage from Damascus, the Syrian capital. We will continue to take on new challenges with the aim of making Syria a country people want to visit again."
[Organization Profile]
NPO Piece of Syria
It was established as a voluntary organization in 2016. In July 2021, it became an NPO.
In order for children in Syria who are the major player in reconstruction to create peace in the future through their own efforts, the organization works with local partner NGOs to deliver education to children in areas where support from the United Nations and international NGOs do not reach.
