When you become a refugee – a person who has escaped from their own country for political, religious, or economic reasons or because of a war – you lose not only a home. You feel a part of your identity falling off, while the strong bonds built with friends and families back home are also lost along the way. You are suddenly placed in a new environment with no one to rely on. Just imagine how much courage it takes to rebuild your life from scratch.
To commemorate the World Refugee Day on 20 June, the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) has produced a series of podcasts and articles, bringing together stories of refugees from Afghanistan, Thailand/Myanmar, Nepal/Bhutan, Haiti and Rwanda.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, at least 79.5 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes. Among them 26 million are refugees, half of whom are under the age of 18.? Almost 50 per cent of all school age refugee children are out of school and just 3 percent of refugee students are currently enrolled in higher education. The reasons for this scenario are closely related to the lack of emotional and financial support and often poorly designed government policies in host countries.
Higher education provides the refugees with opportunities to change their lives dramatically, which can be beneficial to both the refugees and their host communities in the long term. In this series, UNAI introduces the stories of Neh Meh, Dawood, Aliny, Lok Darjee and Donaldo, who have sought higher education as means to make their lives better.
Dawood Monis was a 13 year-old boy living in Afghanistan, when his life was upended. “In the year 2002, just as when the Taliban regime was collapsing, a warlord suddenly came and seized our village. We were forced to leave Afghanistan and head to Pakistan”.
After migrating to Pakistan as refugees, his family of 10 had to share a small room in Quetta, a city located near the border with Afghanistan, and start a new life. They did not have enough food to eat, or money to buy clothes. To help his father provide for his family, Dawood started working in a metalwork shop, getting paid only four dollars per month. “I can’t live the rest of my life like this. Cleaning the pipes, tidying up the office, serving tea for staff and guests for the whole day.” This experience led Dawood to seek education. “With education, I could change the life conditions of my whole family.”
But as a refugee, education was a luxury. Dawood wasn’t permitted to attend a public school in Pakistan. His only choice was a refugee school, which also had turned him down for the school was already accommodating too many refugees. “Hey, do you know the principal of this school? Please tell him to consider letting me attend.” Every morning he would stand in front of the school and call out to students and staff for help, to no avail. One day, when the principal himself had approached him with a stick in his hand, Dawood knew it was time to give up on this school.
Though he was fortunately admitted to another school, it took him two hours by bicycle to go to and from the institution. Every day for him was hectic, having to attend a school far away, take care of his siblings at home and working at the metalwork shop. But he never lost interest in learning; moreover, he was glad that he finally had a chance to study, which would bring him much more opportunities than working at a small shop. Dawood scored the highest marks in the school upon graduation, with an overall score of 98 per cent.
And now it was time to move on. Dawood received a scholarship to the Islamic University of Technology in Bangladesh and double majored in electrical engineering and vocational education at the institution. After graduating, he applied his knowledge of engineering and skills in vocational education to train?“thousands of technicians and engineers” for public and private organizations in Afghanistan, for the course of eight years.? ?
His pursuit of education is still ongoing. In 2020, Dawood received another scholarship, and is now studying for a master’s degree in education management at a joint program of the Ludwigsburg University, in Germany, and Helwan University, in Egypt, called . “Afghanistan lacks skilled workers and technicians that are necessary to rebuild the country. I’m hoping that through further studies I would be able to better serve my country, and continue working (as a vocational training expert) for the rest of my career.” By virtue of higher education, Dawood was able to find out what his lifelong mission was.
Dawood believes that he can empower young students around the world by formal education. He argues that once educated, people can choose their own career, dream about a new future, and change their lives. “It was education that changed my life. Without higher education, I would still be working at the metalwork shop in Pakistan. I want to help empower young people to choose their own life like I did. Hopefully they too can contribute to the development of our country.”
To listen to his full story in English, click .