Schneller School Bekaa
Schneller School is an academic and technical school for students of different ages. It help children and youth to learn how to face their future and be independent to build their own careers.
Schneller web: www.schneller-school.org
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: 08 645443 or 08 645945
Fax: 08 645257
History
In 1860 Johann Ludwig Schneller, born in Württemberg Germany, founded the Syrian Orphanage in Jerusalem. In 1948 Mr. Elias al-Haddad came to Lebanon with twelve Palestinian school children while Rev. Hermann Schneller, Johann's grandson, was deported to Australia by the authorities. In 1951 Hermann Schneller returned to Lebanon and after several sojourns rented a place in Zahle, a main city in the Bekaa. At the end of 1952, he moved with the children into the newly opened school at Khirbet Kanafar, where to the present day socially underprivileged youths and orphans are given a home, schooling, and vocational training.
The school is owned and run by the National Evangelical Church of Beirut (NECB). The church has carried this responsibility with the Associated Churches and Missions in South Western Germany (EMS) since 1972. Other partners and friends locally and abroad help with finance. The school continued to function though the civil war, and to this day continues providing care and education for children.
Mission
The Schneller School aims to provide help to orphans and socially underprivileged children regardless of sex, race, or religion. It strives to help the children who are entrusted to its care to grow intellectually, psychologically, ethically, and spiritually into young men and women who will be responsible members of the society.
Current Ministry
At present, about 170 boys aged between five and eighteen are growing up together in eight 'families'. Two housemothers live with and take care of each of the younger families, and one housefather takes care of each of the older families. The house parents work hard to bring up the children in accordance with ideals of peace and religious tolerance. This makes it possible for children of different backgrounds to live together in harmony and peace.
Every morning there are classes for all the children. About 320 boys and girls come from the surrounding area as day-pupils. It takes nine years to reach Middle Standard. The last two years can be spent in either the academic section or in vocational training. At present there are four main workshops: Carpentry, Maintenance, General Mechanics, and Auto Mechanics. Vocational training in carpentry, plumbing, and electrical installation are also available for those who have completed their fifth year of primary education. A lot of workers are needed at a place as large as Schneller School. About 96 people - teachers, technicians, administrative staff, house parents, cooks, bakers, a medical doctor, and others - see to it that the children are not only getting a good education, but also enough wholesome food and clean clothes, and that all the machines and the heating system continue to function.
About 100 acres of farmland belong to the Schneller School. Part of the land is used to grow apple trees, olive trees, and grape vines. The farm has over 100 chickens and several ducks which provide a limited amount of meat and eggs for the boarding department. The bakery has been renovated and produces many different types of bread of high quality.
