In summer 2021 Horizon scholar, Mai, implemented a second community project in Dheisheh refugee camp. Collaborating with a local NGO, Mai’s project supported 50 pre-school refugee children who had been adversely impacted by the Covid19 pandemic and helped them make a successful transition to grade school. The project was funded by a Horizon seed grant and benefitted the children through academic and psycho-social support. Following the success of this project, Mai will be implementing a similar project in summer 2022, also with Horizon funding. Mai has recently started a new job as a Senior Projects Coordinator with Caritas in Palestine.
During 2021/22, Horizon held two online gatherings for its scholars. The first, in October 2021, welcomed the Foundation’s new UWC scholars and gave them the opportunity to meet each other and Horizon staff and trustees. The second, held in June 2022, took the form of a writing workshop for university students and gave them a chance to reflect on their personal and academic journeys so far.
In addition, in March 2022, Horizon staff met with five of the Foundation’s London based scholars for afternoon tea (see photo above). Some of these scholars are now working, and others are studying at school and university. The event gave us the chance to catch up with scholars’ news and allowed them to meet each other and form a supportive London/Horizon network.
Horizon is delighted to be supporting five new students on the Amala High School Diploma Programme in 2021/22. The new students are Syrian and Iraqi refugees who are currently living in Jordan. To date, Horizon has now supported ten students on the Amala programme which was launched in Jordan in June 2020 in response to the lack of secondary education provision for refugees. The course leads to a recognised high school diploma. Amala has also been establishing progression pathways for its students which will enable them to continue to university studies on completion of the diploma.
In November 2019, the Foundation held a successful weekend gathering in Maastricht which was attended by 18 of its Europe based scholars. The event included an informal meeting which enabled the scholars to get acquainted, a workshop which was run by a Horizon scholar, a walking tour of the city and a formal dinner where trustees, partners and friends of the Foundation got to meet Horizon’s talented young scholars.
At the Horizon gathering in Maastricht in November 2019, scholars old and new, explain what their Horizon scholarships mean to them.
Mai was awarded a Horizon scholarship to attend UWC Atlantic in the UK (2007-2009). She was also the first scholar to receive Horizon Seed Funding for a community project in Palestine.
Mai Al Qaisi, from Palestine, was supported by Horizon to attend UWC Atlantic, 2007-2009. She now works as a Project Coordinator for ActionAid in Palestine where her work focuses on marginalised communities in Hebron.
Mai was the very first recipient of a Horizon Seed Funding grant. Seed Funding grants enable scholars to set up projects which serve their communities back home. In August 2019, Mai ran a five-day music summer camp in Dheisheh refugee camp, Bethlehem. Fifty girls and boys aged 8-13 participated in the camp and enjoyed musical instrument lessons, singing, and dance tuition. The camp used music as a tool to positively influence behaviour and to empower children to express themselves in constructive ways. At the end of the camp, the children put on a musical and dramatic performance attended by families and friends.