AIMING HIGHER: FUND UNIVERSITY SCHOLARS AND CHANGE THE LIVES OF FIVE TALENTED YOUNG REFUGEES
My name is Weaam and I am going to tell you a little about my life. In 2014 I was living in Syria with the constant fear of death or seeing loved ones die in front of me. I was not able to go to school because of the constant bombing - bullets penetrated our house and shells landed next to it. I never felt safe. This is why our family fled to Lebanon.
It was difficult to leave my room, my stuff, my country, my friends, and my school. I cried a lot. I still do when talking about what I suffered in Syria and what I went through.
We arrived in Lebanon and were registered with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. I was determined to continue my education, but I had many challenges to overcome. The first was studying in a new language. The second was the bullying. The third was getting into university. The fourth was integration into a new society. The fifth is my self-confidence. The sixth is my financial situation. The seventh is my psychological state.
I knew that to build the life I want I needed the chance to study so I carried on through all these challenges. Then I got a call from the UN Refugee Agency, telling me about their higher education scholarships. I applied immediately and, despite it being very competitive, I succeeded.
I am now studying Computer Science. My dreams are many and my ambitions are very big. I would like to study abroad. My dream is to stand someday on a large stage to share my story and challenges and to encourage everyone to continue working to achieve their dreams.
Supporting students like me helps them achieve their dreams and become successful graduates, ready to start in the labour market. I am on my way towards this but there are so many other refugees like me who are not being given a chance.
From UNHCR: This crowdfunding campaign aims to raise enough money to fund five scholars when the semester begins in February. This is the first step towards our target to fund at least 70 scholarships before the end of 2021, our 70th year of saving lives and building better futures for refugees
From here, the baton will be passed on to companies and individuals around the world who will help achieve our target.