Rabie’s parents are separated, and he lives with his mother and sister in Syria, in a simple two-room house. Despite his 18 years , the boy has already had to face challenging life situations, which have left a mark on him. Unfortunately, his school performance has also suffered.
Discomfort at school
To help his mother, Rabie skipped the summer course at the Our Youth Our Future center, the after-school program that AMU supports in Syria through the Seeds of Hope program, and went to work. At that time, it was more urgent to contribute to the economic support of the family, and Rabie could not back out.
When he returned to the center to follow the winter course, the teachers noticed a certain discomfort in him: he tended to isolate himself, to stay away from his classmates . There was – in him – a rejection of others. But there was also the awareness of this difficulty, so much so that it was the boy himself who requested individual support.
The Our Youth Our Future center in Syria
Our Youth Our Future is an after-school program in Damascus that provides academic support to kids who need to catch up on subjects, often falling behind not through their own fault, but due to the highly vulnerable conditions in which Syrian society finds itself.
And it is one of the interventions included in the Hope in Syria program, which also includes actions to support basic education, to guarantee young Syrian students a full right to study and greater opportunities for their future.
Rabie’s Recovery
Carefully followed by the after-school teachers, Rabie recovered his relationship with his classmates; he gradually began to participate in class activities more actively; he was able to communicate and interact.
All this may seem like a small thing, but for an 18 year old boy it is life.
“I felt like a stranger among them ,” he says now. ” I was ashamed when someone talked about my family or my relatives, especially because my father and mother are separated. I like coming here, with the professors and students; I feel that the center is my second home.”
