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LEBANON / CHRISTMAS CHOIR
STORY: LEBANON / CHRISTMAS CHOIR
TRT: 1:20
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
DATELINE: 18 DECEMBER 2018, BEIRUT, LEBANON
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, choir singing Joy to the World
2. Med shot, children dancing
3. Wide shot, choir
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Azhar, nine-year-old Syrian refugee:
“Today we sang Silent Night, Jingle Bells, and Joy to the World.”
5. Med shot, Ali singing
6. Wide shot, choir singing Silent night
7. Wide shot, Pascale Khairallah orchestrating the choir
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Pascal Khairallah, Art Coordinator, FAID school for the deaf:
“I am very proud of them. They are singing a melody they can’t even hear. It is like asking a blind person to colour something they can’t see.”
9. Wide shot, choir singing with sign language
10. Close up, Ali using sign language
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Pascal Khairallah, Art Coordinator, Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf (FAID):
“They asked me [to do one song in sign language]. They told me, ‘What if a deaf person is watching us? We want to explain to them what we are singing.’”
12. Wide shot, choir singing
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic / English) Ali Azhar, nine-year-old Syrian refugee:
“I want to tell everyone: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.”
14. Med shot, Ali singing
Twenty-six deaf and hearing-impaired children from FAID, the Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf, have come together to sing for Christmas in the first-ever deaf children’s choir in Lebanon.
Nine-year-old Ali from Damascus is among the seven Syrian refugee children performing in the choir. Born with a hearing impairment, Ali learned how to use his voice for the first time when he joined the school in 2012 and began wearing a hearing aid.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Azhar, nine-year-old Syrian refugee:
“Today we sang Silent Night, Jingle Bells, and Joy to the World.”
The choir is made up of Lebanese and Syrian refugee children aged between four and 16 years. They perform under the supervision of conductor Pascal Khairallah, the artistic director of FAID.
The children had to divide every word into letters to be able to pronounce the lyrics accurately. They have been practicing the three songs for six months now. The outcome is nothing short of miraculous, said Khairallah.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Pascal Khairallah, Art Coordinator, FAID school for the deaf:
“I am very proud of them. They are singing a melody they can’t even hear. It is like asking a blind person to colour something they can’t see.”
Anxious to ensure that their performance was accessible to all who come to see it, the children insisted on performing one song with sign language.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Pascal Khairallah, Art Coordinator, Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf (FAID):
“They asked me [to do one song in sign language]. They told me, ‘What if a deaf person is watching us? We want to explain to them what we are singing.’”
The school, located on the outskirts of Beirut, has 50 Lebanese students, and 25 Syrian refugee children who are supported by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). As well as offering lessons in Arabic and English, the school provides hearing aids and access to speech therapists, psychologists and social workers.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic / English) Ali Azhar, nine-year-old Syrian refugee:
“I want to tell everyone: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.”
Founded in 1957 by Father Andy Andeweg, a Dutch Anglican priest who passed away in 1999, FAID is one of a handful of establishments in Lebanon that offers specialist speech and auditory therapy. It welcomes Lebanese and Syrian children aged three to 18 with hearing disabilities, from different religious backgrounds.
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