Mexican initiative seeks to help Syrians through scholarships

AMMAN — “Every start is hard, the first day I woke up here I thought to myself: What am I doing here?” said Ahmed Taha, a 24-year-old Syrian who is now living in Jordan and is the first to study business in Mexico under a humanitarian project.

Taha was born in Damascus and he was at high school when the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011. He left the country in 2013 when he was a freshman at the First Commercial Banking Institute, Taha told to The Jordan Times during an interview on Friday. 

He arrived in Jordan later in the year from Beirut, fleeing violence where “we were supposed to join the pro-government militia — those are the rules in Syria — I can not go back there now,” he said.

Talking with a friend from Damascus who fled to Iraq and is now in Mexico, Taha knew all about a Mexican initiative that makes it possible for Syrian students to travel Mexico for study. Named Habesha Project, the initiative is a “humanitarian, non-political, not-for-profit, neutral and secular initiative”, according to its founder, Adrian Melendez.

Through the programme, “we try to show solidarity with the Syrian community through receiving in Mexico youth whose studies were interrupted due to the situation in their country,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone from Mexico on Thursday.

The idea resonated well with Taha, who, he said, was eager to have a new experience where he interacts with a new culture and build a future in a completely new setting.

Taha will join the university early next year, alongside 12 of his peers who are already enrolled in higher education institutes in the North American country. 

The total number targeted by the initiative amounts to 30, who were, or currently are, in Syria, Iraq, Turkey or Lebanon. Taha is the only one currently living in Jordan, according to Melendez. 

An experienced relief worker who has served in different places worldwide, especially with Syrian refugees in Kurdistan and Iraq, Melendez explained that the project is looking for beneficiaries who display “an important emphasis on studying; they should be active members in their community and supporting others”, Melendez commented. 

In Jordan, with the recent opening of the Mexican embassy and the support of the department of foreign relations of Mexico, it has become easier to issue a visa for people like Taha, he said. 

“We believe that the Syrian people want to be independent and autonomous and have hope for their future. We saw that this is the best thing we could do for their education, which is the best way to support them,” Melendez added. 

Taha is expected to go to Mexico at the beginning of the next year where he will study business. “I want to build something and make a difference for my country, because of the war we need to know how to make a difference,” he said. 

Taha says he hopes to use the skills and knowledge he will acquire in Mexico to help his country as the reconstruction process starts when the dust settles.