Robogee – The Story of Team Hope

This is another take on the story of Team Hope — the Syrian Refugees who became world champions.

How did a series of pop-up garage healthcare clinics in Lebanon in 2013 eventually led to a team of Syrian refugee children called Team Hope winning first prize at the world’s most prestigious robotics competition? Inspired by their experiences, Robogee – a storytelling platform amplifying the true capabilities and curiosities of refugees – was created. Writer and producer Phoebe West tells this totally remarkable, Hollywood-blockbuster-esque story.

It all started when trained neurosurgeon Dr Fadi Alhalabi came to Lebanon from Syria in 2013. He was struck by the lack of access to healthcare for Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian residents in the Bekaa Valley. He began to set up clinics outside of garages in the area which became Multi-Aid Programs (or MAPs), a refugee-led NGO then working to establish accessible health centers. It was through these that Dr Fadi became aware of the barriers preventing young Syrian refugees accessing education, and so MAPs started to develop schools inside the camps where they lived. “Everything that [they] developed was like, ‘here’s a gap, let’s create this!’ in a very organic way, but working with the community as opposed to just coming in and saying ‘we’re going to do this,’” explains Natalie Garland, their partnerships and research manager speaking from her home in Lebanon. “It was a refugee organisation, by refugees, for refugees.”



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