01 Jan How This Team of Refugee-Roboticists is Changing the Narrative on Refugees Across the World

Every year since its founding in 2017, FIRST Global Team Hope has represented the refugees of the world in the FIRST Global Challenge, an international robotics competition in the Olympic model featuring teams from 190+ countries. The team’s reason for being is summarized by a saying of theirs: “refugees are more than their tragedy.” Last year, the team won the gold medal for the FIRST Global Winning Alliance award, which is granted to the four-country alliance that wins the tournament finals. Through their actions on and off the field, the students of this team have more than proven the truth of their saying and are redefining how refugees are perceived both in their community and globally.

Team Hope receives the gold medal for the FIRST Global Winning Alliance in Singapore, alongside Teams Vietnam, People’s Republic of China, and Eritrea.

The team is composed of Syrian refugees currently living in Lebanon who were displaced by the Syrian Civil War. They are organized by FIRST Global’s partner Multi-Aid Programs (MAPs), which is a Syrian-led non-governmental organization registered in Lebanon since 2013 which provides health, relief, education, and continuing education services to marginalized communities. Each year, MAPs trains approximately 250 young Syrian refugees in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), with five students selected to represent Team Hope at the annual FIRST Global Challenge.

Team Hope’s mentor is Dr. Fadi Alhalabi, who worked as a neurosurgeon in Syria before being displaced to Lebanon, where he now works as the General Director of MAPs. Robotics serves as an outlet for STEM education for the students MAPs works with. During the 2023 Challenge in Singapore, Dr. Alhalabi spoke with CNA about the team’s motivating reason which keeps them competing each year. “It’s so important to consider education as the entry point to changing the community, to achieve dignity, to achieve value. STEM education for us is so important because we need to use it as an entry point to inspire the community, to treat many mindsets related to the victim mindset…We need to inspire the community to change their situations.”

Team Hope presenting their robot to local community members ahead of the 2023 FIRST Global Challenge.

Team Hope’s gold medal wins in 2023 and 2019 speak to the power of this ethos, but so too do their actions off the robot field. The team’s participation in the FIRST Global Challenge is fully funded by the refugee community they come from. Since 2019, a group of 55 women in their community have been crocheting and selling hand-made dolls to raise money for the team, with their most popular item being a knit robot-refugee known as “robogee.” Last year, the team sold more than 5,000 crochet items and was able to cover all of the team’s expenses related to attending the 2023 FIRST Global Challenge.

Competing in the FIRST Global Challenge not only helps change the mindset of the refugees in Team Hope’s community, but also the non-displaced people these refugees interact with every day. Dr. Alhalabi said, “There are many problems that happen with people not liking refugees. They sometimes blame them for things that are happening. One of our team members was a refugee in a public school, and [the school] knew that this student was participating in the national competition and won the competition. So they are proud that this student is part of their school. That is one of the examples that reflects on our theory: that we want to show the real image of refugees.”

Team Hope marches in the parade of nations during the 2023 FIRST Global Challenge in Singapore.

FIRST Global Team Hope is proving to the world that refugees are more than their tragedy. With each year they compete, they serve as a living example that all people have the potential for greatness no matter their circumstances. Learn more about Team Hope’s journey to the 2024 FIRST Global Challenge, which will be hosted in the home of the Olympics, Athens, Greece, by checking out their Team Page or following them on social media here.