A MAN who spends his holidays with family in Frinton when he is not helping to educate children in Beirut, has lifted the lid on what it is like working in a war-torn country. 

Chris Watts, 36, is a co-founder of Future Academy, a charity which helps to give an education to children in the Lebanese capital. 

He works with almost 200 youngsters aged between six and 16 and has been there for five years.

When he is not teaching children in Beirut he stays with his parents in Frinton to celebrate Christmas and his mother's birthday. 

Chris said: "Every other refugee is helped by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees but my kids, as they are Palestinian, are not helped by anyone.

"I set up this school because nobody had provided a school for these children, who are a mixture of Palestinian, Syrian and stateless children.

"If you are stateless you're basically invisible - you have no government or state looking after you, and no passport."

The academy ensures education is made fun to encourage children to learn. 

Chris said: "Every single student we have has not been to school before, so we have a different curriculum because we haven't got time to waste.

"We do literacy, numeracy and life skills, and we always have fun and gamify everything.

"We make sure learning is fun and education is like winning because in the refuge camp it is like the wild wild west of the Middle East - no government runs it.

"Militias are in charge and there is nobody telling the children to go to school so if our lessons are not fun, the kids don't come."

Chris says most of the children are fourth generation refugees whose grandparents fled or were forced out of Palestine by Israel in 1948.

"They have lived in this camp for ever and if they don't learn English and life skills they will never be able to leave so this gives them options and hope," he said.

Before Chris became co-founder of Future Academy he was a personal tutor to the royal family in Dubai and worked in the palace. 

He said: "My wallet was full but my soul was empty, so my career path has been the opposite to most people in that sense.

"I probably had the best job in the world in terms of hours per week and money per hour but after a while it wasn't enough.

"Then I met the first ever Palestinian refugee to become a footballer in the Lebanon Premier League - Ahmad Al-Jamal."

The two men founded the charity which began as a football academy but now has a kickboxing centre, art studio, beauty salon and much more.

Chris returns to Frinton for Christmas and his mother's birthday.

He said: "I was born in Camden but when I left for Lebanon, my parents moved to Frinton. In hindsight, they made the wiser decision.

"But now I can't imagine a more joyous retreat from war than the east coast of Essex.

"I see my mum and dad and play games on the beach."

Life in Beirut has become increasingly dangerous.

Chris said: "The thing is now we are living in war so earlier today there were two bomb strikes and every day at the moment there are Israeli drones - you can hear them all day in the sky.

"There are also sonic booms which is not something I had ever heard or experienced before. This is when Israel flies fighter jets fast, loud and low and they break the sound barrier.

"Everything shakes. Your ribs shake and every fibre of your being shakes. It's a violation of your body and of international law as they're not allowed to do that.

"You get used to the drones - you get used to the buzz.

"Drones aren't going to do anything because they are surveillance, but you do know at some point the data the drones are gathering will be used to bomb someone in the country I am living in."

He continued: "I woke up on my birthday at 3am to the sound of 30 separate bomb strikes. 

"It is tough, but I am safe and I am in an area which is not being bombed.

"But I hear it and see all the fire and the smoke, but I am not scared.

"What I am scared of is every time it happens we have to check where all our 180 children, staff and families are, and by the time we have checked there has been another strike.

"Another thing that scares me is the fact I know I am scaring my mum."

Chris explains how he feels about teaching the children. 

He added: "The world has turned its back on the children I look after, and the only way that I can show that I am doing a good job is by staying.

"Running from this war would be easier, but the easy path is never the best way to build your future. 

"My kids have been forgotten about by every single part of the world and if we forget about them again this cycle is just going to continue."

To donate to the charity go to https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/16425#!/DonationDetails.