The illusion of the good intention -

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to highlight a major issue in an international humanitarian response for access to higher education for Syrian refugees in the region: the voices of the recipients of aid are silenced or ignored by the ones providing the solution to their future. Taking as a case study the Partnership for Digital Learning and Increased Access (PADILEIA) in Lebanon and Jordan, I attempt to emphasize on the real needs and desires of the Syrian youth by reflecting on the partners’ behavior and response to this reality. On several occasions, PADILEIA students shared with the partners of the program the barriers they face to access higher education. As the aim of the project is only to facilitate their entry to university rather than providing them with real solutions to these barriers, the agency of the students is ignored and the primary focus remains throughout the program on the pre-set objectives and goals. This illusion of doing good is hence translated into false hopes for the ones on the other side of the story, the ones in need.