Syria’s Young Talent: inspiring stories of refugee children

Without education, the potential of hundreds of thousands of talented young Syrian children risks being lost. That’s why we’re calling on the international community to ensure one million refugee children secure an education this year in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

A World at School launched the Hope for Syria’s Young Talent petition ahead of a crucial international Syria pledging conference in London on February 4. World leaders will meet to secure the $750 million needed to fund all the school places for refugee children.

Hope for Syria’s Young talent shows there is a generation of young people who will not be able to fulfil their potential if they denied an education.

The talented children found for this campaign were discovered by Sonbola, an education initiative working to provide quality education and interactive learning for Syrian refugee children in Lebanon while investing in empowering and developing teaching skills of Syrian professionals. Visit Sonbola’s Facebook page.

In this series of articles, we talk to some of those talented girls and boys about their hopes and dreams. Click on the links to read their inspiring stories.

The Karbouj brothers – the future of Arabic rap

Samir, 13, Abdulrahman, 12, and nine-year-old Mohamed, live in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. They rap in a new video called Straight Outta Syria, which explores their story and shows that if they hadn’t returned to education, they would have not been able to develop their talent.

Abdulsalmouh and Lana – the chess-playing brother and sister 

Abdulsalmouh Ahmad Hourieh, 14, and his sister Lana, 12, fled with their family after bombings at their school in Syria. They are now at school in Lebanon, where they say their love for chess has helped them settle in.

Daham – the teenager who wants to be a writer

Fifteen-year-old Daham Mohammed Nawasara loves to read any book he can get his hands. He says it helps him in his school studies in Lebanon – and his ambition is to write for a living. 

Hala – the girl who loves Bollywood dancing

“No one else I know does Bollywood dancing – not my friends, not my sisters, just me,” says the six-year-old.

Haytham and Jawad – brothers who want to be footballers

Their father played for the Syrian national youth team – now the boys practise hard and dream of becoming professional players.

Khawla – the girl who writes to poems to feel better

The 15-year-old loves to read and write poetry to help her express her feelings about war, pain and suffering. She said: “When I’m feeling bad I write and whenever I write I feel better.”

Sign the Hope for Syria’s Young Talent petition here.