Iraqi children who have fled their homes for the safety of an Iraqi internally displaced persons (IDP) camp on the Kurdish borders can access education activities on the internet and with applications via Inmarsat’s BGAN service.
Inmarsat-sponsored Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) set up a centre at the Khazar camp which welcomes 40 children a day aged between nine and 15.
The centre allows the children to benefit from extra-curricular activities using digital tablets outside school hours, with each session supervised by a teacher employed by TSF.
Alexander James Thomas, Head of Communications at TSF, said: “The tablets offer fun learning support and will allow the children to stimulate their imagination and pursue their education through specially selected applications providing lessons in topics such as Arabic, English and Sciences.
“The first week in the camp has been spent getting to know the children – a vital requirement for understanding their needs in education and activities.
“Given the difficult circumstances and fast-moving developments, TSF is working to establish a durable solution in order that its activities be available to those who need them the most.”
TSF arrived in Kurdistan on 15 June to help people caught up in the developing civil war in Iraq to contact family and friends using eight IsatPhone Pro satellite phones.
In addition, TSF is working closely with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which provides humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, and has provided them with two BGAN 500 terminals and training on how to use them to assist with their coordination efforts.
Up to half a million people are thought to have fled to safety from the Nineveh, Anbar and Dohuk Governorates in northern Iraq towards the border regions of Kurdistan.
