Syria Today | Young British-Syrian volunteers head to Homs

Young British-Syrian volunteers head to Homs

Twenty young British and Syrian students have begun a three-month voluntary work programme in Homs as part of the Global Xchange (GX) project organised by the British Council.

The (GX) project is an international exchange programme for 18-25-year-olds developed in partnership between Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and the British Council in the UK and implemented in Syria in cooperation with the SHABAB project.

The students have already spent three months completing voluntary work supporting social, public and private foundations in the UK city of Luton and arrived in Damascus on June 17 to take up their Homs posting. As part of the programme, the volunteers receive training to further develop their leadership skills.

Volunteers are divided into pairs – one British and one Syrian – and assigned a task. The UK’s David Williams and Syria’s George Gobran worked with local Luton organisations which encourage early school-leavers to return and complete their studies.

“Working with children is difficult but I enjoyed it,” Williams said. “It’s a good feeling to help those who leave school at an early age and convince them of the importance of education.”

Gobran said the language barrier was a difficult, but not an impossible, hurdle for all students to overcome during the six-month programme. “My English is not excellent and that was the first obstacle in working with children in the UK,” he said. “I hope my British friends at the project will like Syria and the Syrian people.”