Along the journey of setting up our organization, reaching out to partners, and further developing our curriculum, we have constantly been reminded of the plight of the Syrian refugees. While the average Middle Eastern student may face a multitude of obstacles due to political situations and other related regional issues, Syrian refugees face a particularly unique struggle. The refugees are in dire need of structural support, and could greatly benefit from a comprehensive entrepreneurship learning program. More importantly, what these students need more than anything else is structured emotional and social support.
Al-Tareeq’s Entrepreneurial Course aims to address all of these issues. The main focus will be to empower these students to pursue their aspirations and solve problems in their communities using an Entrepreneurial Thought and Action framework. We have poured a lot of thought and resources into ensuring we can teach this while still keeping it relatable to their everyday struggles. It will be impossible to teach a program that is removed from their background of hardship and the hurdles they’ll need to overcome to succeed.
A significant part of our curriculum will be dedicated to addressing the specific requirements of the Syrian refugees. We will be dedicating multiple hours per week to giving the students a safe, trusting space where they can open up, discuss their emotions, and create an environment of trust and encouragement. This part of the curriculum will be dedicated to providing a foundation in response to their turbulent backgrounds, so that they can begin to think about how they can tackle social problems with entrepreneurship. We will aim to build an open space that caters to their emotional needs, addressing a multitude of the obstacles they face, such as family and personal issues, political issues, and trauma. We are also planning to include social activities like movie nights and other such events that bring the class and teachers together, as well as provide a source of continuous positivity and understanding.
Ultimately, our goal is to not teach our program in a vacuum. We are working to create the intersection between emotional intelligence, social support and entrepreneurial excellence this summer for these students who, we believe, could truly benefit from it.
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