Continued from previous spread
Many of our Syrian friends are fun and kind kids that love to dance, sing songs, tell jokes, and just be normal kids and teen-
agers. They are the most generous people I have ever met and showed me what the true meaning of kindness is. Even
though they miss their country and are traumatized from the war, they are still hopeful and ready to take back their lives and
reach for their dreams. I think that the media should show the real personalities of people behind all the numbers and facts
to show that they are people just like us.
How do you see teachers working together to promote global awareness and unity?
As we travel around the world, my sister and I have visited many schools and given talks in classrooms about volunteering,
the refugee crisis, or global awareness. We have met many teachers that are inspired to teach kids to be open-minded and
compassionate towards other cultures and people. I have always enjoyed visiting schools and seeing how teachers are try-
ing to inspire the children to take action to make a difference in their own communities.
Would you tell us about a child whose life has been changed by your benevolent work?
Although I could tell many stories, one of the stories that stands out to me the most is about our friend Ali. During the time
that he still lived in Syria, he was at school one day when it was hit directly by an air strike. He was thankfully one of the sur-
vivors and managed to crawl his way out of the rubble alone. After this horrible experience, he started his long journey to-
wards Europe along with his mom and six younger siblings. When we met him in Greece, he missed his country very much
and held a lot of pain from the past in his heart. We became very close to him and heard so much of his journey to Europe
and everything that he had lived through in the past.
Over the course of the 4 months while we were in the camp volunteering, I saw such an incredible change in him. He
changed from being sad and depressed to empowered and more hopeful about his life and future. I can remember during
one of the soccer games, he turned around to me and said that he hadn’t been this happy since he was in Syria years ago.
His heart is so full of love for his family and his friends and he is such a kind and selfless person. His dream one day is to
become a heart surgeon to fix all the broken hearts of Syria. He has now made it to Germany where he was reunited with
his father and is studying at his new school.
One of your missions is to spread kindness and change the course of our history. What future projects have you
planned to fulfil that mission?
I believe that the way to make the world a more peaceful and compassionate place all starts with people being kind to one
another. We want to encourage youth around the world to make a
difference in their communities by spreading kindness and being loving and compassionate towards people. After seeing
how I could make a difference in people’s lives with a warm smile,
kind words, and a loving heart, I knew that the world could become a better place if we all did our part in being kind, open-
minded, and compassionate global citizens.
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