Omid Ahmadi, a 17-year old who fled the Taliban in Afghanistan, expresses his desire to learn poetically: “Study is a tree with endless fruit.” Sitting here in my air-conditioned home, on my comfortable chair at my computer, I can hardly imagine the horrors which refugees have experienced, forcing them to leave families and all they have ever known to run into the unknown, only to end up living for months or years in a crowded camp, lacking in the comforts they once knew, with a huge question mark as their future. It’s enough to make an experienced adult lost and confused; how much more might that affect a child?
We may not be able to solve the refugee problem in the near or even distant future. An end to all wars is something we all dream about but is quite an elusive hope. But each of us can do something, however small, and make a difference somewhere in this world. This project will connect teachers around the world who have just a little spare time but who want to make a difference in the life of a single child (or adult) in a refugee camp with someone who wants desperately to learn, but needs some help getting started and help to persevere through the ups and downs of life.
