This post presents notes of a meeting of Friends of Brumanna High School held on Zoom on Nov. 14, 2024, provided by William D.A. Haire.

Twenty-three Friends attended this online meeting, including David Gray and Juliana Eid in Brummana.

The focus of the meeting was how Brumanna High School (BHS) cares for the psychological well-being of its community, especially at this particularly difficult time, when war is affecting the whole of Lebanon.

Principal David Gray: 

The general scene.

Principal David Gray described how the bombing (6 or 7 km away from BHS) and the buzzing of drones overhead, can often be heard and sometimes felt in Brummana. Against this background, everyday life continues as normally as possible at school. David is aware that this situation is having an impact on him, but somehow he is enabled to function well, and he finds courage in the incredible resilience of Lebanese colleagues.

BHS is now open every day and has only lost 8 days since the beginning of September. Attendance is 94% and absences are largely due to those who have fled Lebanon and now have lessons online. 

BHS is currently a safe haven and represents stability, normality, comfort and hope for students and staff. All the usual curricula and extra curricula activities are happening, but the school community is also collecting bedding, clothes, food, etc for the many displaced people that Brummana now hosts. David is determined that BHS remains open and that youngsters can continue their education – in many ways he sees this is a peaceful act of defiance. 

Most of the 1.4 million displaced people are from Shia areas and have lost everything. About 400,000 have gone to Syria, but the massive shift and mix up of the population in Lebanon is causing tensions. For example, the population in Brummana has increased very significantly and there is concern that some displaced individuals may have links to Hezbollah, which could make them and Brummana bombing targets.

On campus activities are much the same as you’d expect in any school because its relatively safe there but trips out for activities are very limited because the high risk of unpredictable bombing and drone attacks.

The really important aspect of BHS.

At BHS, learning is underpinned by a liberal Quaker philosophy that provides a non-sectarian education. This means that students from all backgrounds grow up and learn together and they get to know and appreciate each other. They develop the skills necessary for a more hopeful, peaceful future. For example, the Model United Nations, which is a very popular activity, teaches youngsters how to learn and think about global issues, and the perspectives of others with very different cultures from their own. It also encourages empathy, reasoned analysis, effective communication and conflict resolution. 

Juliana Eid, Head Counsellor at BHS, and parent: 

Navigating the current situation.

The sense of belonging and the desire to serve and make the best of whatever situation  they find themselves in, runs very deep at BHS and endures. In the last 5 years, people in Lebanon have been through perpetual trauma – one thing after another, with no time to heal in-between. The challenge for those who provide psychological first aid, is knowing where to start from. However, a strong sense of belonging and togetherness is an important protective factor and BHS acts as an ‘anchor’ for students, parents and staff. 

Some people at school have experienced catastrophic events for which there are no words of comfort, but BHS provides a welcome and meaningful distraction and the support of friends and colleagues. Everyone is living the war at night but performing as if life is normal during the day. What helps is talking to colleagues, sharing a vision and planning together. Building on assets and projecting a life into the future provides an essential sense of hope and is in itself, an act of healing. 

The counselling staff work with pastoral staff to prioritise psychological well-being. They make themselves available to students, parents and staff at all times and check in on those who need help and/or reassurance. They provide a listening ear and tips on how to identify and deal with trauma and difficult emotions, and they are ready to intervene whenever necessary. Some days are better than others, depending what is going on. 

Interestingly, the number of referrals for counselling services since September rose to a peak in October, when many people were scared, tense, annoyed and confused. Counsellors encouraged ‘a momentum of normality’ as a psychological first aid strategy in school, and it worked. In November the number of referrals has significantly dropped because everyone is relieved to have the familiar routine, welcome distractions and meaningful work. 

Q & A

Q. Linda: Are you able to meet the demand for psychological support?

A. Juliana: All counsellors and therapists are in demand currently because of the situation. We’re aiming to help everyone have a minimum level of ability to deal with day to day life and prioritise psychological first aid over all the other things we would normally work on. There is never enough capacity in the sense that the more outreach you do, the more need you find. 

David: The counsellors room is at the heart of the school, and anyone can drop in and self-refer when they feel the need; they are very approachable.

When we opened school again after closing for a few days in September, hundreds of students and parents were too frightened to come to school, but with a little persuasion they did, and immediately started to feel better. The familiar routine brought back a sense of normality and control, in a way that doesn’t happen outside with the chaos and unpredictability of war.

Juliana: We have also been helping parents talk to their children about what’s going on and how to maintain a sense of control in their lives. BHS focus’ is to talk about the nature of conflict and peace and how to resolve conflicts, rather than politics or religion. Going to school as normal, being with friends and making the best of the situation are all helpful coping strategies.

We don’t want counsellors to be perceived as therapists, nor the school as a clinic. We want counsellors to be part of school life and work as a team alongside teachers, who are the first port of call for children.  Counsellors provide staff training and make sure teachers are equipped with tools for psychological first aid. 

David: Teachers have direct and indirect ways to talk to children. For example, lessons can be used to address important personal and social matters. Having checked everyone was OK after a big bomb blast during an English lesson, the themes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream seemed the most helpful antidote to the shock, rather than to dwell on what had happened.

Juliana: In order to cope, it’s important to calm anxiety by not giving a lot of head space to things we cannot control, but instead focus on constructive things that we can control.

Tony: By not focusing too much on what’s happening outside, you help the children, families and the school.

Q. Jane: It’s very heartening to know that school is functioning well. Is after school cricket still happening? And are refugees from the Shatila camp still involved?      

David: A British cricketer who started a cricket club the Shatila camp suggested I start a cricket club, so I did.  We played with them regularly until the war took hold. BHS have started playing again, but Shatila, which used to house about 45,000 Palestinians and Syrians has been badly affected by Israeli bombing close by. It’s an extremely dangerous area now, but BHS and Shatila plan to resume matches in the spring – although Shatila teams are superior!

Q. Gillian: What is the impact on young people of the influx of non-Christian refugees into Brummana?

David: We are doing all we can to help for the huge number of displaced people – providing truckloads of stuff to 7 towns in the region. It’s important so show our compassion and that we care because of the tensions that exist. At the moment there’s a spirit of togetherness and sympathy for those who have nothing, but for those being helped, the situation may be causing resentment.

Juliana: This is an extremely sensitive matter. The war between Hezbollah and Israel involves intelligence about key individuals who are targets, and there is a lot of anxiety that these targets could be walking among us as displaced people. It’s sad and it’s like walking on eggshells; we constantly teach kids that we have compassion for fellow human beings, but at the same time we must be vigilant. Our motto is I Serve and we need to do that, but it carries a risk and we don’t want to be misunderstood or hurt.

Q. Sarah: Young children often communicate their upsets and worries through their behaviour. Has there been an increase in challenging behaviour?

A. David: We have been dealing with some very extreme behaviour, particularly among young boys. Many families are living stressful lives, often because the father is working abroad, leaving mothers to bring up children alone, in the war. 

Sometimes too, children may be more impacted by a parents’ reaction to the situation, rather than the situation itself. 

Juliana: You see 2 kinds of behaviour. Some children are rebellious and generally unsettled: their parents tend not to be coping well with the situation and are unsettled themselves. Children who are coping well tend to have parents who are managing to maintain quality family time and routines, and not spend time glued to social media and news. Children tend to mirror their parents behaviour. We explain this to parents and encourage them to focus at home on things they can control, rather things they cannot. That way they provide a positive model for their children to copy. It’s a life-long skill.

David: My job is really to help maintain calm, so that the school can continue and to give people the confidence to know that we’ll get through this. But the calm that I have comes from my Lebanese colleagues who show such fantastic courage and resilience and Juliana particularly: she and her team do a great job in making sure things don’t fall apart and we stay sane and happy.

Q. Rae: The work you’re doing is really wonderful, but is there anything we can do to help you?

A. David: Donations that help the school survive are always useful, but actually, the encouragement and support we get from knowing that you’re all on our side is incredibly valuable. Also, a really important thing you can do is share the insights you have about Lebanon. Few people know about this little country, so spread the word, the good things as well as the bad.

Juliana: Please remember us in your prayers. Although pride in our academic achievements seems inappropriate at the moment, but the truth is that we do perform well and excel, despite everything. We are able to do that because Mr. Gray helps us, and when he was told to leave, he stayed, and that reassured us that we not forgotten. We don’t want to be in a war, but we need to try to make the best of the situation and minimise the damage.  We hope to have better days for us and for our children.  

Sarah: Heartfelt thanks all round. 

If anyone would like to donate to BHS, the main conduit for giving in the UK is now through the QuIET website – here’s the link: https://quietcharity.org.uk

Featured image by Padres Hana – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31509772