In Al-Aliyat village, in the Al-Karama area of eastern rural Raqqa, participants in the peacebuilding activity under the Rawabet Project, implemented by Dan for Relief and Development Foundation (DRD) in partnership with World Vision, joined community members in a voluntary initiative to clean Al-Aliyat School and prepare it to welcome students at the beginning of the new school year
The initiative created a space for joint action between adolescents and their parents from Al-Baydar village and the residents of Al-Aliyat village. Both communities took part in cleaning the school and its surrounding areas, driven by a shared goal of creating a cleaner and more suitable learning environment for children, while also promoting values of cooperation, participation, and community responsibility.
The initiative was particularly meaningful because the adolescents participating in the peacebuilding activity come from Al-Baydar village, while the targeted school is located in Al-Aliyat village. This provided the group with an opportunity to travel to a neighbouring village and work alongside its residents on an activity that benefits children and the wider community. The participation of Al-Aliyat residents together with their children also demonstrated the positive influence of the adolescents who had participated in the peacebuilding sessions and the extent to which their engagement encouraged their families to become involved.
From Training to Field Action
The initiative forms part of the project’s peacebuilding activity, which aims to strengthen children’s and adolescents’ capacity to participate positively in their communities and develop skills in dialogue, cooperation, and teamwork, while translating these skills and knowledge into practical community initiatives.
As part of this process, 103 adolescents—50 boys and 53 girls—participated in 24 training sessions based on the “Path of Peace” curriculum. In June, two Peace Clubs were established, each consisting of 20 adolescents, with members meeting twice a month.
As the activity moved from the training stage to practical application, participants began implementing voluntary initiatives in cooperation with local communities. The initial activities included cleaning a mosque and cleaning a school.
The Al-Aliyat School clean-up initiative represents a continuation of this process, providing participants with an opportunity to put into practice what they had learned about cooperation, initiative, and teamwork through a practical activity carried out together with members of the targeted community.
A School as a Space for Cooperation
The initiative was not limited to cleaning the school and preparing it for the new academic year. It also provided an opportunity for participants and residents of Al-Aliyat to connect and work side by side.
Through initiatives of this kind, volunteering becomes a space where community members come together around a shared need. In this case, the practical goal of preparing the school for children became an entry point for strengthening relationships, cooperation, and positive interaction between local communities.
The initiative reflects one of the key objectives of the peacebuilding activity: providing children and adolescents with opportunities to actively participate in their communities—not simply as recipients of training, but as individuals who can identify community needs and contribute to addressing them in cooperation with local residents.
Expanding Community Initiatives
As part of efforts to expand community participation, four community initiatives were selected under the peacebuilding activity: “Bridges of Love,” “Our Safe and Green Spaces,” “Our Mosques Bring Us Together,” and “Our Roads Are Safe.”
Work is currently underway to implement the “Our Safe and Green Spaces” and “Bridges of Love” initiatives.
The “Our Safe and Green Spaces” initiative aims to rehabilitate a public park in the Aqraba area of Al-Karama, transforming it into a safe space and recreational area for children from the area and neighbouring villages, providing a suitable place for play, gathering, and community use.
The “Bridges of Love” initiative involves rehabilitating a deteriorated bridge connecting Al-Baydar and Al-Aliyat villages. The initiative aims to facilitate safer access for students to their school while strengthening connections and interaction between residents of the two villages.
Peacebuilding Starts with Participation
The Al-Aliyat School clean-up initiative demonstrates how the knowledge and skills that children and adolescents gain through peacebuilding sessions can be transformed into practical initiatives with a direct impact on their communities.
The initiative was more than a voluntary effort to improve the appearance of a school. It brought peacebuilding participants together with residents of the targeted village around a shared responsibility for children and education, while creating an opportunity for cooperation and collective action between members of local communities.
Through initiatives of this kind, the Rawabet Project seeks to strengthen the role of children and adolescents within their communities and support their ability to participate, engage in dialogue, and cooperate with others. In doing so, the project contributes to building stronger community connections and demonstrates how small, locally led initiatives can become practical steps towards peace.