Over the years I have seen friends lose their children to cancer, a medical procedure or an accident. At the height of their pain, many faced it with incredible strength and a determination to transform the loss into legacy.  Mo Gawdat went on a mission to SOLVE FOR HAPPY. Dana Askari turned tragedy to charity with The Candy Cart. Listening to Rasha speaking about Ammar, I felt a connection between his life and the lives of the students we are supporting on edSeed. 

Over the next months, Rasha and I exchanged photos and stories Ammar, of the Boulder skies that inspired him, and of the refugee youth I am working with. It wasn’t long before Rasha decided to help a few in loving memory of Ammar. 

Over the course of the next two years, Rasha became mama bear to all at edSeed. She knows every student’s story, stays up all night to speak with the students, their parents and university administrators to make sure they are on track. She leads their onboarding, negotiates discounts with their universities, hosts those in the US in her home and administers tough love when needed to keep them focused. Rasha has also rallied her family and friends to support our scholars. 

In 2017, I had presented edSeed at the United Nations MIT SOLVE event as a crowdfunding platform for refugee higher education. Rasha, who attended the event transformed edSeed into something far better. edSeed today is a virtual village, where each student campaigning on the platform is surrounded by a close community of volunteers, mentors, donors, and educators led by Rasha who guides each the student on their journey to success. 

In addition to Rasha’s involvement with every student and the organization as a whole, the the Ammar Al-Shami fund supports 9 scholars financially.

Ammar, your mom inspires us and reminds us of your values, quest for knowledge and yearning for justice. Your legacy lives on and lives strong.

There are an estimated 1.3 million Syrians with disabilities resulting from the conflict. While the conflict has been challenging to all Syrians, it is particularly difficult for refugees, and exponentially more challenging for refugees with disabilities.
To that end, I set up the Wajeh and Estebar Barazi fund, to support Syrian youth with disabilities resulting from the conflict.
Our first beneficiary, Maher Fatthouh, lost his eyesight fleeing the conflict on foot from Syria to Lebanon. Shortly after losing his eyesight, he started using technology to teach himself, graduated from high school and applied to University. Today, Maher studies education and volunteers to help others with visual impairment.
By donating to the Estebar and Wajih Barazi fund, you will help grow our ability to support youth with special physical abilities. Wishing you and your loved ones a happy 2020. Please donate today.

Why is this important? Because Syrian youth have the potential to play a major role in post conflict peace-building initiatives. Research conducted by the Journal of Youth Development reveals “the next generation has been shown to be powerful change agents in their communities and are therefore critical to a communities’ health and nation’s success.” Currently its largest demographic, Syrian youth (those under 24 years of age) amount to over 58% of the total population (UNFPA – 2019). This presents a substantial opportunity to reroute the Syrian’s people trajectory to uplift communities and inspire solidarity.
‍ What does this look like? Youth engagement can manifest in a number of different ways. From economic opportunities to occupational skills development, empowering the youth within Syria and across the diaspora can instill values such as work ethic and empathy. Working and volunteering can keep youth focused on growth, progress and development. Finally, initiatives such as summer camps, after-school programs or volunteer opportunities for students in host countries all promote a sense of responsibility to the community.
‍ How can we get involved? Be it an employment marketplace or an online skills training course, we are seeking solutions that will enable the youngest and largest demographic of Syrians to gain financial independence, contribute to their host communities and collaborate on supporting their fellow Syrians globally.
‍ Syria Digital Lab is looking for young Syrian entrepreneurs, innovators, creators and disruptors with ideas to engage their peers and develop their skill set in an attempt to foster social cohesion. Those with solutions (concepts, prototypes, ideas or business models) in the education, healthcare and youth engagement sphere can apply to the 2019 SDL Startup Competition here. Winners will receive funding and mentorship in addition to gaining access to an ecosystem that incubates and sustains Syrian led digital initiatives.

Last Sunday, the two groups met online. What follows is a transcript of the call, highlights of what the two youth groups are learning from each other and a summary for new ideas they want to embark on:
We are so happy to share with you highlights of the first Cross-Atlantic meeting between Project Turquoise (PT) students and Senior team in Washington, D.C, the edSeed Team in NY, NJ, Texas and Salamanca/Spain, and our four brave Zaatari students in Zaatari camp, Jordan who are now freshmen at Zarqa University.
I asked Zaatari students about the challenges they faced in their first semester. They spoke about the new rhythm of college, building relationships and adjusting to the commute and rigorous study schedules. They wake up at 5:00 a.m. to be able to get to class on time and spend at least 12 hours at Zarqa University. Ziad, an accounting Freshman said his school-work has been great, his professor is so proud of him that other sophomore students already heard about him. He is already playing soccer with the University team. Danya, studying Pharmacy, also shared her success story, how she is using her social skills to make new friends and learn. Ammar, Freshman Nursing, said he needed to adjust on a personal and academic level. He felt getting to college has already added to his social and learning skills.
PT students were enthusiastic and genuinely engaged. They asked the Zaatari group about their school work, hobbies (Soccer and Tae Kwon Do) and study skills, etc., and they remembered the students by name and knew their individual interests. They were so mature. So impressive, really.
Gail Vignola, VIP.fund board member asked PT students what in their view could incentivize US students to get involved with Syrian refugee causes. She also asked them if they spoke to other youth in their schools about their experience in Zaatari and Lebanon since they could now vote and bring about change. A PT student said that meeting Zaatari students in person gives the interaction a human feel. Philanthropy is no longer abstract. One is not simply giving to a cause but making a significant difference in the life of another person.
Another PT student said that meeting the Zaatari youth reinforced the “oneness” of the human experience. While recognizing how different their circumstances were; in effect, they were so much alike: teenagers who play soccer, love their pets, and have many dreams. Mai Barazi, VIP.fund board member asked the Zaatari students about the support they get from their families now that they are in college. They unanimously confirmed that they are the first of their siblings to attend college, that they have acquired a new status and have been now relieved from housework because they have to dedicate their time and effort to their school/work.
The PT team said that their youth committee will be more than happy to meet with us to discuss ways of reaching out and getting more involved personally. PT seniors also asked Zaatari youth if they were in touch with other members of the Zaatari larger team. Some said they were. Mariam Nuseirat was one of the PT student group who has just launched her campaign on edSeed’s platform. Amnah Al-Eid also heard about the PT initiative and reached out to edSeed. Dara, who knew Ziad and had to leave early because of the snowstorm got on Zoom from upstate NY and talked to Ziad. He gave Ziad the Egyptian soccer team Jersey which Ziad wore to a tournament yesterday and scored two goals.
The meeting was electrifying despite poor connectivity at the Zaatari end. I was humbled by the PT leadership’s praise for our efforts at edSeed to get special tuition fee reduction from AlZarqa University. Credit goes to the AlZarqa University Registrar General, Dr. Khaled Hamaidah, and Mr. Ebraheem Hariri. Thanks to their efforts, PT scholarships covered four scholarships instead of the two originally envisaged.
I told the PT students that their initiative expanded the pool of students we at edSeed are helping now and that we have five more students from Zaatari who will soon be launching their campaigns.
As a result, we plan to expand our mentorship program to include exchanges between PT and Zaatari students to help them with English language skills. In response to Gail’s questions, PT senior team offered to arrange for a meeting with the Youth Committee to share some thoughts on possible engagement of students from Seton Hall University.
I am grateful for PT’s team involvement and enthusiasm. We have a lot to learn I guess.

1. Rasha Ajalyaqeen, the late Ammar AlShami’s mother and founder of his edSeed scholarship seed fund joined us as a VIP.fund board member and an edSeed student onboarding advisor. Since her appointment, she onboarded 20 sudents
2. Mai Barazi hosted a musical fundraising event in Austin that was attended by 65 members of the community and raised over $6000 to support our edSeed scholars
3. Project Turquoise joined the edSeed community as a partner; the PT team committed to fully fund 4 students from Zaatari camp; in 2019 we selected the students who started their first semester at AlZarqa University
4. Mai Barazi, established the Estebar and Wajeeh Barazi Scholarship seed fund. This fund supports youth from Syria who have been impacted by conflict. Maher Fatthouh, a phenomenal student who overcame losing his eyesight and excelled in education and community service was the first recipient of the seed funding
5. We presented at the MIT SciTech conference to an audience of 150 Arab and American tech entrepreneurs
6. We presented at Seton Hall University on investing in refugee higher education and had a few volunteers join our network
7. Adel Yafi was our first student to graduate and start giving back to the community by funding other scholars
8. We launched our blog and media library in collaboration with Leddat
9. Added two Youth advisory board members; Heba Salem and Mustafa Ajlyakin
10. The Ammar Alshami fund that was established in 2018 received two significant donations that can now sustain two students
11. We logged 15,000 volunteer hours across student mentoring, training and administrative support
12. Gail Vignola, the founder of Scholars for Syria, joined us as a VIP.fund board member and brought with her a great education network and support for Syrian students and our scholars at large