Inspiring Amala Alumni Stories: Sura Ahmed Gailan

We are delighted to be introducing our new Amala Alumni Interview Series. Over the next few months, we will be catching up with some of our alumni and sharing their inspirational journeys since completing an Amala course(s). 

Our very first Alumnus who we are thrilled to introduce is 22-year-old, Sura Ahmed Gailan, from Iraq. Sura completed the Peacebuilding in your Community course in Amman, Jordan in 2018 and has since gone on to pursue a career as a pharmacist. We enjoyed an early morning call with Sura via Zoom, asking her a series of questions about her experiences and loved hearing how her educational journey has continued.

What have you been doing since you completed the course with Amala? 

I am very pleased to say that I have recently graduated from pharmacy college. This also means that I can now apply to university to continue my studies, which is very exciting.

That’s very exciting, congratulations on graduating! Has becoming a pharmacist always been your dream and did the course help you make the decision to chase it? 

I used to dream about becoming a teacher but then I fell in love with Pharmacy. I entered the Amala course first. During which I applied to the Pharmacy College. Amala and my facilitator helped me to communicate and work on my application. I was very pleased when I got accepted into college. 

How do you feel Amala has helped you with what you have done since the course(s)? 

My father taught me how to speak English whilst I was growing up as he is a translator, but because I have a shy personality, I did not like speaking English to others and there weren’t many English speakers around. My classes at Amala and pharmacy college were both in English and it helped me practice and communicate with people easily. I now feel more confident and comfortable to speak to others. This has allowed me to make friends from different cultures and backgrounds. 

Would you recommend the Peace Building in Your Community course to others?

I would recommend the course because I found learning with Amala allows you to talk to others and find out if they need help. My family has also always wanted to be supportive, and it is part of the reason I joined the course to learn more skills. I believe that if you get people into good health, it will help them to have a beautiful life and think more positively. That way they will not think about all of the negative things like hating life and having been through hard situations. I believe by signing up for the course and then working towards becoming a pharmacist I can help people to achieve good health, so they can enjoy their life and live longer with someone they love and be loved.  

Are there ways that Amala changed you? E.g. In your mindset, thinking, actions towards others?

I didn’t really know a lot of people, so I only knew how people close to me like my mother, father and sisters thought at home. When I joined the Amala course, it really helped me to understand different mindsets, cultures, and debates. This led to me making more friends and overcoming my shyness. Since I have left Amala I started to ask my pharmacy colleagues questions about their mindset and they really love discussing their viewpoints. A lot of my colleagues have travelled to Jordan just to study and are now hoping to go back to their country after being exposed to different ideas and cultures.

What are your aspirations for the future?

I am excited to continue my journey to becoming a Pharmacist, even more so now that I have graduated from college. I want to make people healthy and be a peace builder in my community to make being kind and sharing love a priority in people’s lives. 

What would your advice be for other young refugees? 

There is a saying that I love, “The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you're made of.” You need to live better and on my last day at Amala they said, ‘Don’t give up’ and I believe that you should always push yourself and have others push you - In my experience, you can push yourself first and then encourage others to try. 

I would encourage young refugees to look at educational courses. I have learned that getting an education is the most important thing and can help you build a life and share love with people. My home culture has always believed in education. So from my childhood, it’s the most important thing in your life for yourself, your family, and others. 

Thank you so much for your time Sura, do you have any final words you wish to share?

Amala has really given me such self-confidence so I just want to say thank you so much for that. When I was on the course and we were conducting our final student project before graduating, they asked us to go out and ask people about education. I was happy to hear some students joined  [future Amala courses] because of us sharing our experience with them. So, I just want to thank Amala for giving people a place to go and encouraging them to study so that they can help their family and community. 

Over 350 students have taken part in Amala programmes over the last three years. Learn more about the impact of their Amala education and where they are now here.