Skip to main content
EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian crisis

"When I grow up, I'd like to become a doctor"

180314jdt551.jpg

"I hope he makes it as a very well-known doctor in the future as he’s always told us it was his dream to become a doctor."

Ahmed, 11 years old, is from Aleppo district in Syria and now lives in al Ghouwariyya, Jordan. Getting an education is a priority for this young boy who dreams of becoming a doctor. Ahmed and his family had to leave Syria when the war started and that prevented him from going to school. “Because of the war, we were moving places constantly. And I couldn’t go to school,” he explains.

Despite missing 2 years of school, Ahmed, now a 3rd grader, was able to catch up to his classmates and is now on his way to making his dreams a reality. “I like studying, I like Maths and English,” he says enthusiastically.

Thanks to Back to the Future, with the support of the EU via the EU Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian Crisis, Ahmed was able to enroll in a centre where he has been studying for 4 months: “I have been coming to this Centre for some three to four months. I improved at school and my grades got better […]. Back to the future means that I can go back to school and finish my education,” he says. Despite all the difficulties he went through, Ahmed’s determination to study and accomplish his dreams never faltered and he is set on finishing his education and making his father proud. “It was my father’s dream for me to become a doctor” he explains.

Ahmed has come a long way and, thanks to his teachers’ efforts, he went from an introverted child to a studious and open young man eager to learn and make friends. “He’s improved so much, both in terms of academic achievements but also his relationships to his peers,” explains his Arabic teacher who played a big part in encouraging his potential.

Teachers at the centre understand that education starts with helping students change their attitude and guiding them to overcome any issues through various methods and activities adapted to each child. “We do believe that we need to educate before we teach. […] No child can achieve academic changes without going through behavioural changes first”.

Giving a chance to these kids to catch up on their education and have the opportunity to continue studying in order to fulfil their dreams is the main objective of these centres. Support is given in many different forms and not only academically, as the social and psychological dimensions are as important. Kids like Ahmad are now able to catch up so later they can go to school and finish their education.

With the support of the EU Trust Fund, Back to the Future gives access to informal education and protection to almost 100,000 Syrian refugee and local children in Jordan and Lebanon, who have a better chance to, one day, go back to the official education system.