Amala graduate and now learning facilitator, Hasan, founds training programme for refugees
Meet Hasan, an Amala Learning Facilitator who works at the Amala learning centre in Amman, Jordan. Hasan first joined the Amala community as part of the second cohort of students on the Amala High School Diploma Programme in Amman, and his studies at Amala were supported by the Horizon Foundation (UK). He has gone on to become a Learning Facilitator with Amala. During his time studying with Amala, Hasan identified a lack of practical skills training for refugees in his community. He applied for funding from the Horizon Foundation (UK) and, inspired by his background at Amala, launched New Horizons, training programmes for refugees which aim to strengthen their abilities to become changemakers. Horizon Foundation project funding is limited to scholars who receive funding for their studies from the Foundation.
How the Amala High School Diploma set the foundation for New Horizons
Hasan's Amala journey began when he discovered the Amala High School Diploma Programme through a volunteer project he was involved in. Living in Amman since 2013 after fleeing his native Syria, Hasan was immediately drawn to the Diploma Programme and dedicated three months to improving his English skills in order to apply. Hasan graduated in April 2022 and attributes Amala as helping him along his journey of self-realisation. “Amala gave us the confidence in ourselves that we can become what we dream of”, said Hasan.
Inspired by his transformative experience during the Diploma Programme and what Hasan described as “15 months of a life-worthy experience of learning and growing”, he decided to become an Amala Learning Facilitator after graduating, eager to guide and support the next cohorts of Amala students. Hasan particularly enjoys seeing the students now going through the same process he did, and leading the next generation of changemakers.
“My friends, family and everyone see the change that Amala brings to me.”
Seizing the opportunity with New Horizons
Through its partnership with Amala, the Horizon Foundation (UK) selects academically talented young individuals who aspire to bring about change in their communities. Hasan was fortunate to be chosen as an Amala-Horizon scholar and applied for Horizon's Seed Funding. The application process is competitive, limited to Horizon Foundation scholars, and requires students to design and implement projects addressing challenges within their communities. Hasan came up with the concept for “New Horizons”, a project to enable refugees to develop skills through practical training programmes. The idea, however, had been in Hasan’s mind for much longer: investigating a challenge that a particular community faces and devising a solution to it.
Identifying and addressing the needs of the community
Hasan’s New Horizons project was born out of a deep understanding of the challenges faced by the refugee community in Jordan. The new Horizon report that Hasan created identifies that there are 702,506 refugees and 4,870 asylum seekers in Jordan. Of those registered, 82% live in urban areas such as Amman and many live in difficult conditions, after escaping violence and insecurity. Social challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and integration difficulties persist.
Drawing on his five years of experience in social work, Hasan developed New Horizons as a space for refugees “to feel included and heard… a safe space for them to belong in, form friendships and a network of relationships, raise their capabilities and help them integrate better into society to develop a new mindset as leaders, not victims”. And that, Hasan explains, “is why we called it new horizons!”
Diverse skills for the next generation of changemakers
New Horizons aims to equip young refugees with new skills in different areas, so that they can become changemakers in their communities and access new opportunities. Inspired by the Amala learning centre in Amman, Hasan envisioned creating safe spaces for refugees, which are currently lacking. The aim of New Horizons, in Hasan’s words, was “only to help people - nothing else.”
Hasan’s colleague Vivian, Amala Learning Facilitator, is also involved with New Horizons as the Programme Coordinator. When they launched the New Horizons project, the response was staggering, with over 1000 people applying to take part. The programme offers training in life skills, sport and art for cultural exchange, planning and building a project, and photography, graphic design and social media. At the end of the programme, participants are divided into groups and devise a community project, which they then present to a panel made up of Amala staff and members of the local community.
Everyone in the community spoke about the happiness they sensed from the students who participated in the programme. "Coordinating the New Horizons programme has been an incredible privilege”, says Vivian, “filled with moments of inspiration and transformation of guiding young minds toward their limitless potential."
New Horizons was even mentioned in the United World Colleges (UWC) Annual Review 2022 as a key example of an Amala alumnus’ social impact project.
New horizons for the project
New Horizons has already welcomed a second cohort of students, funded by the Global Refugee Youth Network (GRYN), and expanded the programme. The first new course focuses on mental health, addressing the importance of psychological well-being. The second course revolves around climate change and the environment, aiming to raise awareness and foster a sense of responsibility towards our shared planet.
Hasan plans to run a third cohort of the New Horizons programme, and in parallel has designed a special course which will provide vocational training in mosaic. This opportunity will enable students to develop practical skills and expertise in this unique art form and use it as a way to make a living.
Even though he was not able to offer a space on the course to everyone who applied, Hasan emphasises how supportive the Amala community is in offering their help with New Horizons. He also cites the Horizon Foundation’s support as “incredible”. During the proposal stage, Horizon Foundation (UK) asked Hasan over 50 questions, and he reflects that this challenge helped unearth aspects about the project that he might not have thought about before.
With the second cohort, Hasan and his team made a deliberate effort to involve Amala students and Horizon scholars as volunteers in the programme. There are eight volunteers, who are involved in helping the trainers with facilitating activities. Whilst volunteering, they also build new networks. The New Horizons team demonstrates to student volunteers the intricacies of planning and managing projects, equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills to become future project leaders. This experience will foster their growth as facilitators and trainers and New Horizons plans to do the same for future cohorts, creating a continuous cycle of learning and development.
To other Amala-Horizon (UK) students thinking about applying for the Horizon Foundation opportunity, Hasan wholeheartedly recommends it, saying that the valuable feedback that the Horizon Foundation (UK) offers during the project “is a learning experience in itself”.
“My studies with Amala definitely helped me implement the project as I learned a lot of things related to planning, designing and implementing the ideas that we have. Even if Amala didn’t teach everything in the world, it gave me the tools that we can use to search and solve any problem. For example, one part of the project was monitoring and evaluation, and I used the research skills I learned at Amala to find more about the topic and all was successful”.
You can keep up to date with New Horizons on Facebook and Instagram, and read more about Hasan’s initiative on the New Horizons website.
The Horizon Foundation (UK) offers scholarships to young people in the Middle East and Asia to encourage them to positively represent and support their communities.
Please note that Horizon seed funding is limited to scholars who receive funding for their studies from the Horizon Foundation (UK).