Baher Al Abd
UWC Atlantic 2018-2020
In a windowless garage on the outskirts of a vast refugee settlement in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, Baher pored over the Harry Potter books he had saved up to buy. Not only did they help the Syrian teenager practise his English, but Harry’s fantastical adventures in a faraway land offered him a much-needed escape.
Like JK Rowling’s protagonist, Baher had been orphaned at a young age, losing both his parents in airstrikes when he was just 10. The young wizard’s self-reliance and determination resonated with Baher, who was short on real-life role models.
“We were living a normal life in Syria until the war started. Then everything changed. Every day bombs were dropped on our neighbourhood. I remember the day my father was killed, I can’t forget it. I was at school when I was told he was dead. I remember thinking … now I am alone in the world."
The war in Syria changed everything for Baher. At the age of twelve, just as Baher was about to be sent to an orphanage, a cousin helped him cross the border to Lebanon where he began life as a refugee. He started by working at his uncle’s dairy factory before getting a job painting houses and waiting tables on weekends. This allowed him to save up enough money to rent his own apartment and finally attend school again during the week. Baher placed academics at the centre of his life - seeing it as the best way to honour his parents’ memory. He quickly excelled at school, placing 28th in the country in his middle school finals, and doing particularly well in physics.
"I loved Lebanon as it was the only home i ever really knew but Lebanon did not love me. The other kids made me feel like I was from space, from another planet. I made some friends after time, but I was never allowed to forger that there was an invisible wall between us."
But Baher’s life changed again, this time through a chance meeting with Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former Danish prime minister who at the time headed Save the Children. Spotting his talent, Thorning-Schmidt suggested he apply for a UWC scholarship. Baher entered the selection process of the Syrian national committee and was finally offered a place at UWC Atlantic, with a scholarship from Horizon Foundation: “I will never forget that moment. I had been so stressed and worried about my future and then I received an email one morning saying I had been accepted to UWC Atlantic. I was beside myself with happiness, I just couldn’t believe it.”
“When I first arrived, I was awestruck to see the dining hall, the gardens...all the places I had been looking at in photos every day. I have done so much already and yet there is still so much for me to experience here. It has been completely life-changing.”
Baher has already been offered a full scholarship by a university in the US, which was impressed by the essays he wrote for his UWC application. Although restrictions for Syrian refugees means it is difficult to say what will happen after that, this has not stopped Baher from dreaming big: “I have a lot of dreams, and now that I’m at UWC Atlantic, more and more of them have not only become possible but they have become my duty. I would like to one day become a global advocate for children living in war zones and give a voice to those who often aren’t given one.”