What This Syrian Refugee Does Will Make You Smile
He was taught entrepreneurial skills and is now reaching out to other refugees
I met Hasan in 2015, during one of the training sessions in a youth development program that Cybercare runs for underprivileged youth, the STEP (Self-empowering Transition and Employability Program).
This was the first time we were conducting it for UNHCR refugees. We work primarily with youth in orphanages. I didn't know what to expect.
Hasan was amongst the many refugee youth from 8 countries - Syria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Palestine, Myanmar, Iraq and Somalia.
In our first experience with such diversity, we learnt from them that we are citizens of our only one world.
Hasan. What a character. He is full of zest for life. You cannot miss him. It is like he is on a mission to be noticed, to make you smile.
When I first met this young man, I could only smile because he is so full of life - as though he can’t wait do something or to go somewhere.
I certainly did not expect to find a soul so full of hope, so wanting for a better future, so believing that everything will work out.
Now, I know this is why CyberCare continues to do what we do, and bring out the best in our children.
Some youth hide. Some are numb. Some are switched off. But there’s always some like Hasan, who are simply waiting to be, to do and to have.
Hasan maintained contact with us in CyberCare. After our training, he went on to teach in the refugee school in Wangsa Maju. That was in March 2016 when he was still 16 years old.
Hasan said he loved teaching since he was small.
Even though he really wanted to study, he stopped school to help his family. His dad was in hospital at that time and the fees were expensive.
He shares what he learned from CyberCare, he teaches it to his students.
He teaches them how to love each other and not think about the sad moments and about the war and what happened in the past.
Hasan teaches them to make a new happy life and think for their future. He said he wants their future to be better than his future. He’s an inspiration to his students and to us all at CyberCare.
CyberCare hopes for Hasan, as well as every youth we have the opportunity to train, a life he knows he can create for himself, a better future for him and his family he knows they deserve, and a belief that he has and will continue to acquire all the tools, skills and knowledge and wisdom to live his life to the fullest. Every child has the right to dream. And every child has the right to fulfil that dream.
