It is hard to be an activist in a world where everybody expects a girl to be soft and cute at all times. And I can tell because I have been bullied my entire childhood and during my teenage years. I was called “bossy” most of the times, or worse, “boyish girl”. Today, as a grown up, the situation isn't much different. It wasn’t easy for me to put up with all the pressure. But I did. I knew what I had was bigger than their words and the names they were calling me. Frankly, what they thought is going to break me, broke them, and made me stronger. One year ago, I read an article with the title...

How many times have you ever thought of this question: “Who inspires you?” I know it might seem easy. But trust me, it is not. Especially when your answer should be clear and honest, identifying the person who has impacted your past and will continue to impact your future. I have spent a week already brainstorming who might be that person. I don’t want to give a random answer. I identified several criteria for what makes a person influential. I looked up the characteristics of influential people. According to all the articles I read my person should hold these traits: 1- He must be a leader of...

When I turned 6, I did not consider myself a kid anymore . Ever since, I saw the world from a different angle. I started dedicating 2 hours per day to my English story book collection. It was called “The Wild Thornberry”. I used to spend hours pinned to my desk reading and writing. I was fascinated by the accent and the sound of the letters of the new language I was learning; English, it was. The biggest question I was constantly asked is “ Are you crazy adding extra study hours to your schedule?” My answer was, “ I don’t think I can be more reasonable.” “Those who know nothing of foreign...

I grew up in a house where an interesting story has been told many times. “When prince charming (your dad) came to steal the heart of my little princess (your mom)” my grandfather starts, with a smile on his face and a glowing tear on his cheek. “Your mom was preparing to harvest the fruit of 12 years of constant hard work, sleepless nights and the perseverance to succeed” he continues. With his hand on my shoulder and a warm voice he adds: “I stood solid and said firmly that no man shall marry my daughter until she celebrates her personal victory”. Which is graduation, he explains. At that...

On the 14th of December, 2015 I left my home in Syria to start a special journey on Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and peacebuilding. However, because I have a Syrian passport, I had to go through many difficulties and interrogations before arriving in Jordan. Still, it was worth it. Back in the days, we didn’t need any security clearance nor a visa to enter our neighboring country. However, today, things are different. Finally, I arrived there. I entered the room and there I found 41 powerful advocates from 23 different countries. I stood there for a moment and my heart was pumping. The...

Syria sees its first major national campaign: 16 Days of Activism is a campaign that was organized by the United Nations Population Fund in Syria. The campaign succeeded in portraying the solidarity and resilience of the Syrian community. After the crisis hit, it was a great challenge for all the partners to run a harmonized program in 8 cities (Damascus, Rural Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Lattakia, Tartous and Swida). However, our goal is to keep spreading the same values we worked on in this campaign. Today, UNFPA along with 7 local partners is celebrating the success of illuminating Syria...

My name is Salam and I am from Syria. Probably not many know where Syria is on the map. However, my aim is not to further explain you the geographical location of my country. My aim is to let those who never heard the word “Syria”, as well as those who heard it already, know how Syrian youth can be a great added value no matter where they are. The exact translation of my name in English is “Peace”. I start to realize how lucky I am to have such a powerful name, especially at a time when the meaning itself is lost in a big dark sea filled with war and inequity. When I turned 18, crises hit. And...

The world wants us to leave it better than we found it, it wants us to be the change, by speaking up and being the first domino. For a line of dominos to fall, one domino has to fall first, which leaves no choice for the others but to fall. For me, being a domino means doing the hardest things, especially when they are needed with the hope that others will follow soon. But let’s put the light on a very important topic, which is fear. Some will say “We are fearless!”, but none of them is unfraid of the consequences of their fall, and few of them are truly willing to be the next domino. Fear has...

Success comes from the little seeds we plant every day despite the challenges we face, and no idea will work unless we do the work. We have only one life and we shouldn’t waste it!! The road to success is through commitment, and commitment happens when we take a real ACTIONS. Taking massive action in our lives is the only way that we are going to achieve our goals, dreams, and desires. Wake up every day with the mantra “TAKE ACTION” and watch the results unfold in your life. Your life would be better if you took the action you’ve been avoiding for ages. You should have the courage to stand...

Many people think about getting a leadership position, but they don’t think about the mission. It’s the mission that brings you the position. I have come to learn that if you are driven by a mission, everything will come with it including your dream position. So many times I have spoken about how I have tried a lot to be a member in any organization or initiative to gain more experience and knowledge and to find a good and suitable job, and I faced lots of difficulties to achieve this and to join any team or NGO. One day when I was coming back home with many copies of my CV, I asked myself...

You would think that after 9 years of war, you'd be accustomed to bombs and bullets, but that's never true. Every bomb kills a part of you that you never thought would die, every bullet goes through your heart and never truly leaves. The pain and anguish goes deeper with each heart beat, and there's nothing left for you but to pray for any higher power to end this misery in anyway possible.

Five months have passed since the Syrian war memory, the war that forced us to do things we don't want to do. This year, I wrote a blog five months ago about the story of my life and how my childhood was living since the beginning of the war and until now under name: "How war changed me." I also mentioned - in this blog - my story with my first friend in my life, we were five years old when we first met and we stayed together until the war started and forced us to leave each other. Since 2011 I have not received any news about her, I only hear from time to time that she is alive. Recently, I...

2011. I was 11-years-old when the war started in my country Syria. I was too young to understand what was actually happening. Before the war started I had many dreams. I wanted to be a doctor, be with my friends forever, or grow older at the same place where I lived. But suddenly, I found myself without dreams, friends and dolls. I woke up one morning and everywhere was full of hatred, I have seen many horrific scenes that are still stuck in my brain. 2012. I had to change the place where I live to start a new life again, but I became despaired, secluded, more shy and more nervous. 2013. I was...

Any time you have a goal there is some steps that need to be done in order to achieve it, here is my way to reach a goal: UNDERSTAND WHAT DO YOU WANT EXACTLY Understand what do you want exactly is the first step, you have first to look for your goal in this life, ask yourself what is the purpose of my existence? Practice various hobbies even if you do not know how to do it maybe lead to find your passion in life, and if you do not find your goal just continue to search because you just do not see clearly! UNDERSTAND THE NEXT RIGHT MOVE This is the second step. After determining your desired...

Every time I meet someone, I always ask myself whether they have a goal in their lives or a destination they want to reach. I have met many people who had no goals in their lives. And if they had one, they did not know how to reach it. One day I met a girl by chance and we talked about a writer and inspirational speaker called Simon Sinek. He wrote a book called 'Start with Why?' which offers a great idea: why are some companies or some people more successful than others? Or how can I move towards achieving my goal more accurately and more clearly? In fact, I did not read the book directly...

We have always stressed the importance of smiling at the face of our friends and distant neighbor and helping others. And we are fully aware of the love we feel when we help older people or when we play with little boys, but what made me remember these words again is that I no longer see any effect of it on reality! Perhaps what inspired me to write this article is that we are aware of the importance of the individuals to society, and that they cannot grow apart from their community. They need friends and family to stand with them in pain and joy, but what we do today is very different from...

Despite the crisis we are experiencing in my country Syria, I believe that it is essential to focus on our objectives in order to make sure we stay on the right track. It was this hope that kept me going from the day I decided to pursue my passion until today. I am Bayan, a girl from Homs city. From childhood, I have been interested in computer science and my dream was to specialize in Computer Engineering after graduating from high school. Unfortunately, I did not obtain a high school score high enough to join the Faculty of Informatics. Regardless, I did not stop going after what I always...

"How did I survive yesterday?" You wake up today and ask yourself. This is an automatically generated question from our brain to cope with an inconvenience that happened or a letdown that kept you disturbed. Having the option to deal with awful days is a particularly significant expertise to acquire throughout everyday life, since awful days are inescapable, and in the event that they're not taken care of usefully, they can turn from awful "days", into weeks and even months. Regularly, you may neglect to perceive when you're having an awful day, or you may even attempt to keep away from your...

Love can be frightening, love can be overwhelming , love can be hard. Ever thought about how much effort does love require? How long would it take to heal from different experiences to open the doors for another? Sure you did. But , among all of the stigmas and stereotypes of love we might come across, one love remains away from the spotlight, waiting patiently to be spotted. The feeling of love when you wake up early in the morning to witness birds singing along with the clouds racing towards the horizon,the small cold breeze that feels your face softly in summer nights. Those feelings that...