2015: A Year in Review

December 29, 2015.

2015 was a year of great challenges and great growth for Questscope. As the Syria Crisis grew in its destruction of lives, we grew in our ability to reach further into the desperate communities of people who have no one else. We've provided tens of thousands of families with food, shelter, water, and medicine. We've carved out spaces of hope and community in war zones and refugee camps. And we continue to design ourselves around meeting the need within every person for dignity, meaning, and a place to belong.

We're a stronger organization this year because of our tireless staff and...MORE

The Azraq Refugee Camp

November 25, 2015.

No one wants to be caught in a place where there is no escape. Having no education is such a place. Having no certificate that says you have an education also leaves you in that place. Being a refugee can push you into that place. 

Questscope works with young people who have dreams for their future. They are in search of a significant life and a way to contribute to the world, but they are out of school and don’t have the support to turn these dreams into reality. We work in corners of the world where young people have lost the ability to make choices and plan for their lives...MORE

Spiritual Formation Training

November 25, 2015.

We had wonderful formation sessions for "Principles of Spiritual Formation" in a training week in Aqaba, Jordan earlier this month with 23 Syrian volunteers from the Za'atari Refugee Camp and eight Questscope staff.

Our Syrian volunteers in Za’atari – who are also refugees – are the backbone of our Youth Center and mentorship programs in the camp. They plan and facilitate activities and build strong relationships and a positive community.

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Life Inside the Za'atari Refugee Camp

October 29, 2015.

In 2012, Bassem fled Syria to Jordan to the Za'atari Refugee Camp to escape snipers, machine gunners, rockets, and bombs in his hometown in the south of Syria. He figured he would be in the camp for a few days and then get back to his undergraduate university studies. That will soon be four years ago.

Za'atari Camp has changed a lot since Bassem first arrived. From a cluster of hundreds of emergency UN tents in the middle of deserted fields not far outside Za’atari town, it has grown to become the 4th largest city in Jordan - a...MORE

Back to School

October 29, 2015.

Most kids in the Middle East are busy getting into the swing of a new school year right now - a fresh year of possibilities ahead to make new friends, learn new things, and dream about their futures.

But for Syrian refugee children, this time reminds them of what they've lost:  the homes they left behind, their schools, and their friends - who might be alive or dead. They are reminded of the life they used to live - the normal life of a normal kid going to a normal school - without a war!

Many Syrian children of war have been out of school for years -...MORE

Our Response to Syria - from Curt Rhodes

September 30, 2015.

Syria is in the news a lot these days. And it's a place where I've spent a lot of time. It was a country of artists, engineers, teachers, people who had dreams and plans. Their children played under the shade of old trees along the edges of streets and their young people gathered in dozens of brightly-lit internet coffee shops at night. Before fighting broke out in 2011, Syria's population was 22 million. 

Today, half those Syrians have been forced to flee their homes. 7.6 million are now displaced within Syria and 4 million have become refugees in...MORE

Za’atari Youth Center: A Space for Change

September 28, 2015.

On September 15, we officially launched the new Questscope Youth Center in the Za’atari Camp for Syrian refugees in northern Jordan. The Center—whose funders include the UN and the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation (MBC)—will engage 500 Syrian youth in recreational, educational, artistic/cultural, and psycho-social activities. The entire program has been designed and led by our dynamic team of Syrian volunteers inside the camp.

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Caring for the Other Refugees

September 10, 2015.

via The New York Times 

The world’s attention has been riveted on the refugee crisis unfolding in Europe, and on the shift in Europe as leaders, finally, take steps to deal with it. But one of the reasons Syrians are risking their lives to reach Europe is that life has become unbearable in the countries closer to home where many have taken refuge.

About 12 million Syrians — more than half the country’s prewar population — have been displaced...MORE

Remember Us

September 10, 2015.

This is a reflection written by Nadia Schroeder, daughter of Curt Rhodes, after she visited Zaatari Camp a few weeks ago.

“What would you like Americans to know? What is your message to Americans?” We asked a group of Syrian refugees in the Zaatari Refugee Camp. “Syrians love life.” “And we are fahmaneen,” which means “we are not ignorant, but rather perceptive, cultured, and knowledgeable.”

This was a statement we heard many times throughout the day we spent at Zaatari. “We are not, as many view us, ‘pathetic and uneducated refugees’” one young man in...MORE

Walking the Walk

August 24, 2015.

The transformative influence of a leader is not who she is in her public performance and duty, but who her family and close friends see her to be in private. Walking the walk and not just talking the talk marks the difference between nice words, or transformation. The Questscope family struggles to make sure that we are not just talking, but actually experiencing and sustaining transformation. This is the story of one of our staff who is being transformed. And because of that, her life, who she is, transforms others.

I have always dreaded the days…those moments…when the need to...MORE

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