Team Hope (Refugees) 2017

They are a group of Syrian refugee youth from 16 to 19 years old who never gave up hope and ambition despite the difficult circumstances they faced after fleeing to Lebanon.

Some of them were able to continue their education at the Lebanese schools, while others are still trying to have access to formal education, which will not be easy at all.

These obstacles and difficulties were the reason behind their desire to learn something new, something different from the traditional education that they used to learn back in Syria. They wanted something unique, creative, and challenging which can be a combination of more than one skill and more than one field of knowledge. So, why they decided to start the STEM Education and registered in MAPs courses that helped them get rid of the traditional teacher-centered classroom learning and to adopt a new creative practical way. They started with “Lego Robotics” course then “Vex Robotics” course. Finally they managed to find the “Hope of Syria” team.

They participated in Vex local competition that was held in Lebanon in March, 2016 and won the first rank beating all other Lebanese teams, this success came in spite of their late preparation for the competition. This success highly motivated them to keep moving in robotics field and participated in the International Vex Competition that was held in Kentucky, USA last year. They have also won the “Judges’ Award “. Hope of Syria team has become a success story in Lebanon and beyond, not only for the Syrian refugees’ community, but to the local community, as well. This small team has broken the stereotyping of the word “refugees” and made us all proud and surprised of the great effect of motivation and persistence to attain success and overcome all obstacles.

For us, what really matters is to keep moving and keep improving ourselves and empowering our Syrian community. That’s why “Hope of Syria” is still working and developing their talents and techniques to participate again in local & international competitions to emphasis to the whole world that If you decide to be successful there is nothing that can stop you, even if you’re called a “refugee”. We hope to participate and win again and to encourage all the Syrian youth be aware of their own potential and to get ready to participate in rebuilding Syria when we, hopefully, go back soon.


Coach: Mohamad AL Hasan (Software Engineer)

I am from Homs city, now this city is totally destroyed. I moved to Lebanon past 3 years and a half due to the war, I have a passion for Robots and very interested in Technology. For my team, this experience will reshape their future as engineers. It will also boost their self-confidence when they compete against their peers from around the world. And will prompt them to continue to put hard work and effort to succeed.

This successful experience will give hope and open doors for other students to follow the footsteps of my team and never give up due to circumstances.

We have the dedication to win 1st place and prove to the world that Syrians will not stand back – even under the worst conditions.

Indeed, this is the most important objective of this experience. You can still become a successful and productive person even if you are currently a refugee…

This technology is fast paced and we hope one day those young students will rebuild the country.

Team Leader: Dr. Fadi Halabi: (Neurosurgeon – Business Administration)

From Damascus the capital of Syria, I fled from my country 4 years to Lebanon, where I shifted from medical practice to work in the education sector for Syrian refugees in Lebanon with some colleagues, I was one of the founders of one of the biggest educational initiatives (MAPs) – that delivers the education inside the camps especially the camps suffering  from difficult situations. Now the initiative has 10 schools called hope schools to include 3,500 students Syrian, primarily has been working on the idea of creative education and breaking the traditional teaching methods and the application of the most important twenty-first century skills, which is robotics and its applications are one of the most important works in creating hope for Syrian refugees and to demonstrate their love for science and technology and not to surrender even to the huge difficult circumstances whatsoever, also to go forward in preparation for the return to Syria and to work on the rebuilding of the human and cultural level again.

I hope that we can through the hope team give and bring hope to all refugees around the world and for each one forced to leave  his country.  And we can deliver our vision for the international community and the entire human family, that a refugee is capable of making the impossible and high-quality achievements and changing the stereotypical image towards them.

Mentor: Osama Shhadeh (Computer Engineering)

I am from Yabroud city, I moved to Lebanon 6 months ago due to the war. We are working on students to develop their engineering skills to be successful engineers in the future, maybe one day, they can rebuild Syria.

Student: Mohamad Nabih Alkhateeb – Grade-11

I am from Katana city, I moved to Lebanon 3 years ago due to the war, since childhood I have a passion for robots, My ambition is to be Robotics engineer. We’ll come to the USA to prove that Syrians are here and to win 1st place.

Student: Amar Kabour – Grade-9

I am from Yabroud city I moved to Lebanon 3 years ago due to the war, my ambition is to be a Robotics engineer. We hope to give hope for all Syrians, Winning the tournament probably give them a little hope to remain steadfast and dream of a better future.

Student: Maher Alisawui – Grade-10

I moved to Lebanon 3 years ago due to the war. I am from Damascus city, my ambition is to be a Computer engineer. Winning the tournament will enable us to raise the voice up to tell the world you have to support the education of refugees because we are a good example of that.



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