Malala meets Syrian refugee students attending university in Kurdistan
Surrounded by books, Malala spends the afternoon with Syrian refugee scholarship students in Erbil’s Book Café
Malala’s latest Girl Power Trip stop took her to the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. In Erbil, she spent an afternoon meeting Syrian refugee scholarship students who are enrolled in nearby universities. Sitting in the Book Café — a new bookstore that provides an inspiring space for girls to learn — these young women shared their stories, recited poetry and performed songs.
Refugees Nalin, Shinda, Alva and Nergez resettled in Kurdistan after violence in Syria forced them from their homes. More than 200,000 Syrian refugees are in Iraq, mostly living in the Kurdistan Region.
For Nalin, Shinda, Alva and Nergez, the path to higher education was not easy. Nergez worried she wouldn’t be able to access education as a refugee. “When I left, I thought I left my dreams behind in Damascus,” she said. Similarly, Shinda was out of school for a year after fleeing Syria. There are currently more than 56,000 Syrian school-aged refugee children (6–17 years old) residing in Iraq — one-third of these refugee girls are out of school.
However, Nalin, Shinda, Alva and Nergez overcame the odds and completed their secondary education. Thanks to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), they are also able to realise their dreams of attending university.
UNHCR gives higher education scholarships to refugees in their host countries through the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative Fund (DAFI). In 2015, the DAFI programme supported 2,321 refugee students to study at universities and colleges in 40 countries of asylum. Nalin, Shinda, Alva and Nergez are all DAFI scholarship recipients. Nalin is majoring in literature, Shinda in fine arts, Alva is getting her degree in management of business and Nergez is studying to become a doctor.
As Malala will soon also be in university, her new friends had a few pieces of advice. “Keep doing what you are doing,” recommended Nergez, “University is not the time to relax — you must keep working hard!”
Malala met with the DAFI scholars at the Book Café, a recently opened bookstore in Erbil. Ravan Ja’afar Al taei is one of the co-founders of the Book Café, who told Rudaw that “the aim of this was to create a place where girls can come and read, study, work in an inspiring environment, which is also comfortable and easily accessible.”
The Book Café is “Pinterest-worthy” in its design and decor. The floor to ceiling shelves rival Belle’s library in Beauty and the Beast. Delicious treats baked by a mother-daughter duo are available for purchase, as well as crafts made by local youth.
The DAFI scholarships aim to provide students with the tools and leadership skills to help rebuild their home countries when they return. As Nergez said, “I am working so that I can return to Syria and serve the people there.”
Malala is on her global #GirlPowerTrip to meet with girls like Nalin, Shinda, Alva and Nergez and amplify their stories. Each girl has a unique story to tell — and their voices are our most powerful weapons in the fight for education and equality.
