DAMASCUS, Syria — Some 2.1 million children are deprived of education in war-torn Syria, according to United Nations statistics released Feb. 2. About one-fourth of the nation's schools cannot be used because they have been damaged or destroyed, or are being used to shelter displaced families or for military purposes.

To help children and women in areas where state institutions are absent, the Olive Branch Organization is active in Daraa, an opposition-controlled province in southern Syria. The organization, which relies on private donations, has initiated aid campaigns such as “My Room is My Classroom." That effort, launched in 2012, provided school supplies and toys to help make up for the shortages displaced children have suffered since regime forces stormed the Dara'a al-Balad and Tareeq al-Sadd neighborhoods.

On Jan. 26, the organization also opened the Zeitoun First Vocational Center, where various courses and activities are held, such as sewing, computer maintenance, management and marketing.

The organization’s chairman of trustees, Suhaib al-Zoubi, told Al-Monitor the organization opened its first school in December 2013, in Saida. The school was aptly named Dar el-Zeitoun Liltaaleem Waltarfeeh, or the Olive House for Education and Entertainment. This was followed by a succession of other schools in various areas of Daraa, the latest being the Ninth Olive Branch School, which opened in al-Shajara in October 2014.