Ayat was a talented academic who loved her family. Then she was forced to flee her home. Now she’s dedicated to helping people like her.
When Ayat, a 35-year-old Syrian, obtained her master’s degree in Arabic literature in 2005 and started working as a lecturer at the University in Homs, she had every intention of finishing her PhD. She planned to prove to the naysayers that a female villager can and should be educated. Destiny, however, had other plans.
But in March 2013, two years after the beginning of the conflict in Syria, Ayat was forced to flee her city and the studies she loved so much. Overnight, Ayat’s life changed drastically, as she turned from a university lecturer preparing her PhD, to a Syrian refugee.
Remarkably, since arriving in Jordan, Ayat has volunteered with several agencies, including CARE, helping other refugees like herself and refusing to give in to the hardships of refugee life.