Amala alumnus and researcher, Sarah, brings exposure to the refugee experience
Sarah completed the Amala High School Diploma in 2022 in our second cohort in Amman, Jordan. She has since been working on multiple initiatives that aim to improve conditions for refugees world-wide.
At only twenty-six, Sarah is founder of the OWN WAR project, co-founder of the Youth for Peace initiative, a published researcher with a postgraduate degree in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, and a digital media creator.
Sarah’s Amala Journey
Sarah graduating from the Amala High School Diploma in Amman, Jordan
Sarah first found out about Amala through her colleague and co-founder of Youth for Peace, Muhammed Shahadat (Amala DP1 alumnus), and decided to apply with the aim to enhance her intercultural communication skills. She was surprised by how she was impacted by the Amala ethos, as well as the curriculum.
She goes on to say that the impact that Amala had on her mindset, and perception of the world was much greater than any academic aspect of the experience. Sarah highlights that truly valuable education is that which engages students past the academic aspects and “makes the students think and teaches them to rely on themselves.” For her, injecting enthusiasm into learning, and most importantly, keeping the education relevant to the student’s lives is what makes a programme such as Amala so special.
“I can say that Amala contributed to bettering my maturity, as my way of thinking became deeper than it used to be.”
When asked about her favourite aspects of Amala, Sarah tells us that she enjoyed the Peacebuilding and Ethical Leadership courses, but that she recalls the time preparing and developing her PIP (Personal Interest Project) as being, by far, the best part of her Amala experience. Sarah explains that finishing the course, graduating and leaving Amala, was a strange feeling; but found that her passion for her PIP, OWN WAR, meant the transition into the next chapter of her life was a natural progression, as she turned her energy to continuing and enlarging her PIP.
“Amala really expands the scope of thinking for refugee youth to think and work for the future.”
ONE WAR portrait
Using multimedia and graphic design to capture refugee experiences
Through OWN WAR, Sarah aims to spread awareness and increase refugee representation in a world that severely lacks it. She laments that refugees are only portrayed as stereotypes, through studies and statistics; and wants to break the individual people out of the numbers, to follow up and shed light on their successes, and to bring visual representation to their stories.
Through OWN WAR, participants fill out an online form with detailed questions about their story, their life, their successes, challenges they have faced and how they overcame them, etc. This helps Sarah better understand the personality of each individual. Then the participant attends a portrait photo session, and other pictures that represent the participant are collected. From there, OWN WAR uses Double Exposure technology to create a visual that captures the essence of the individual.
“I hope one day that OWN WAR will be a global programme to include all young refugees around the world and to be a network for them to shed light, present their stories and represent them to the world in a different way.”
Sarah’s research work
Sarah presenting with WANA
In addition to her efforts with OWN WAR, Sarah has continued to work as a research assistant with the Columbia Global Center and as a social worker with the UNHCR. Being a lifelong learner and being “very interested in any programme that gives me an opportunity to strengthen and publish my research work,” she joined the “Public Policies for #Innovation in Jordan: Realities and Ambitions” programme of WANA (West Asia-North Africa Institute of the Royal Scientific Society) and KAS (Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Jordan Office). The programme seeks to increase awareness of the policy landscape in Jordan by having non-governmental individuals write research papers and share their perspective on various related topics. This was complemented by her completion of the Youth Media Program Jeel01, which provided her with training on research methods and writing policy papers, as well as the opportunity to publish motivational papers for young people.
The combination of Sarah’s experience in research and her interest in the lives of refugee youth, led her to realise how difficult and long the procedures are for young people wanting to establish a pioneering project in Jordan. This pushed Sarah to research this issue further, using the skills she had polished with WANA and KAS programme and the Youth Media Programme. A year later, in December 2022, Sarah’s research paper Matching the Skills of Jordanian Graduates with the Labor Market was published as part of the book Public Policies for Innovation in Jordan: Realities and Aspirations.
“It was important to join a dialogue like this… such discussions of prominent political matters make you think about other issues and topics, and so, increases your awareness and aspirations.”
Sarah as a Youth for Peace ambassador at WikiGap event
In her research paper, which she wrote in both Arabic and English, Sarah discusses the challenges facing entrepreneurs in opening entrepreneurial companies differ according to the company’s field and sector. She conducted multiple interviews to find out how the Jordanian social entrepreneurship sector is divided, and uncover the issues plaguing the sector and those working within it. Possible solutions were also discussed, and recommendations with how to move forward were posited to decision-makers within the sector. Sarah formulated the paper according to international research methods, taking a year to write and amend it, and then have it reviewed by experts in the field of writing research and entrepreneurship.
Sarah hopes that “future generations will be energetic, passionate, self-reliant and independent.”
In the future, Sarah is planning to get a master’s degree in social work or in sustainable development to continue her mission: to contribute to the refugee community, and provide as much assistance as she can. In tandem with the efforts of OWN WAR, she hopes to publish more research that sheds light on the efforts of refugee youth in all countries of asylum.
Stay up to date on all of Sarah’s work and research by following her on LinkedIn here. Check out some of her portraits as part of the OWNWAR project here.
“If you believe in yourself that you can and develop yourself on that basis, you can actually create miracles…”