Landscapes of childhood ebb and flow, but one memory is engraved in my mind with the details of a Dürer. Years ago, at the age of seven, I was sitting on a park bench with my mother in Istanbul. I looked up and saw a large family of Syrian refugees from Aleppo. Unreconciled and hollowed, this family was disappearing into the folds of this unforgiving landscape like an ephemeral shadow. Darting eyes, unfocused courage masking curiosity, my stare landed on a young girl at precisely the fated moment. We locked eyes with what felt like some unknown masonic symbol, a deep and clandestine knowing… the inherent wisdom of a boulder. I will never forget the profound feelings that washed over me like a tsunami. I was looking at a reflection of myself and I know that she felt the same. We were mirror images: two human beings that just happened to be female, just happened to be the same age, just happened to be wearing our long hair in similar braids, just happened to both be clothed in blue dresses, and just happened to have such different roads ahead that we could hear the crashing of humanity and feel the insurmountable chasm arise between us even though we were only meters apart. This silent moment of profound connection helped me to realize that life is not unlike a Rorschach test, and equity is but simply… perception. For a child to comprehend that rights of childhood are not equally given was cataclysmic. The moment escaped, galloping past with the tug on my arm. But that encounter unleashed a promise: I would find a way to help her along with the other 117 million people who are forcibly displaced or stateless this year alone.
This event led me on my journey to empower underserved children and educators by harnessing the power of technology. Along with two friends, I founded a 501c3 nonprofit called Girls Growing Education.
Today, with intransigent feet firmly planted on the ground my hope runs vertical. Challenges envelop and imprint themselves on me like manufactured snowflakes captured on celluloid. But I’m steadfast and optimistic in my belief that education is a fundamental human right and that I can help. Inspired by the power of a singular promise, I wish to equalize knowledge production through a simple EdTech solution that delivers top-line content to those experiencing learning poverty and learning deprivation. It is intended for those who lack access to online education by bridging the digital divide via no internet required at scale. This device allows for accelerated and asynchronous learning for those students who desire more challenge. It also allows for teachers to be trained with content in different subjects and lesson plans for any grade k-12. It can address inadequate infrastructure, overcrowded and under-resourced classrooms, lack of agency, support inclusion with excluded populations in schools for those who need extra support, and/or be the immediate curriculum of excellence. These proven, high-level modules of learning combined with this EdTech device will empower and impact with extensive, far-ranging implications.
Last summer, we began with a pilot in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with an educational summer camp for approximately 47 students, launching the EdTech device. Since then, we have introduced 11 Learning Centers in Addis with over 1,000 students attending. This past summer we returned to Addis to expand our Learning Centers and launched an Education Summit to formally present our ideas to stakeholders including UNICEF, The World Bank, IMF, USAID, and global NGOs, such as Imagine 1 Day. We are looking forward to collaborating with other organizations involved in education and continuing the opening and facilitation of learning labs, as well as expansion to other areas such as South Asia, adapting to the needs of each country and region we operate in.
I wish to be the catalyst of positive change and I’m keeping under-served children who lack access to a quality education in my direct line of vision. But stateless children housed in refugee camps stand steadfast in my periphery. I made this promise to a young Syrian girl years ago. It’s more than investing in young minds and helping them to reach their full potential: it’s about helping humanity find the road map to being human again.
