Nourhan arrived in the Netherlands in 2015, after she left Syria with her family to escape the war in the country, and she was holding a degree in pharmacy and a lot of hope in a country whose language she does not master.
As soon as she arrived in the Netherlands, Nourhan realized that it was impossible to resume her professional life as a pharmacist, as is the case in Syria. To keep her profession, she had to return to school and start from scratch, after working for many years in this field, and studying third-year students at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Damascus. This is in addition to continuing her master’s degree in her second year.
Speaking to “Sky News Arabia”, Nourhan confirmed that she had turned the page on pharmacy because her path was long, difficult and different.
She added, “My goal was not to repeat myself and re-study pharmacy in order to practice a profession that I mastered. So I went to learn the Dutch language first, and I succeeded in mastering it quickly, even though I was over 42 years old at the time.”
Fortunately for her, the Syrian immigrant was able to voluntarily work as a translator assistant at a high school near her home that includes an education class for refugees.
Nourhan was a link between students and teachers on the one hand, and teachers and students’ families on the other hand, which she explains, saying: “Because the class included students from England, the United States and Eastern Europe alongside Arab students, I was translating from Arabic or English into Dutch and vice versa. In a short period of time, the refugee children were learning the language and continuing their studies in the ordinary Dutch class, and many of them came back to us to support him in some subjects. That is why I gave them lessons in scientific subjects such as mathematics and chemical sciences after I translated them.”
From volunteering to teaching
During her work, Nourhan discovered that she liked the teaching, which she practiced differently in Syria, and made her academic path towards it.
By 2019, she decided to pursue a degree in the field, and was back in school after being accepted into a teacher preparation project at a university in her city.
Regarding her journey in preparing her for teaching, Nourhan explained: “I passed two years of learning successfully, but the training period was not enough due to the outbreak of the Corona epidemic, which forced me to continue learning in an additional one-year course, and obtain an educational qualification diploma from Windsheim University that qualifies me to teach chemistry. in secondary schools.”
After conducting several job interviews, Nourhan was accepted as a chemistry teacher at the secondary school in Essen.
As a result of years of hard work and scientific excellence, the professors of Windsheim University nominated the Syrian school to compete for the Excellence Award granted by the independent UAF Foundation, an organization that represents the interests of refugee students and professionals, and offers them opportunities to develop themselves in the field of study and work in the Dutch market through guidance and financial support.
Regarding the prospects of winning the award, Nourhan said: “I never doubted the strength of my candidacy file, as I had all the ingredients for winning the award, which was in honor of the efforts made to obtain a job competing with the Dutch. I got a teaching contract for a year and at the same time I succeeded in passing a diploma Intensive qualification, in addition to my voluntary work distinction.”
Nourha considered her winning of the award more symbolic than financial, because through it she wants to “motivate all refugees to search, work and volunteer in charitable work, because the refugee must be active in the community that hosted him after developing his language. Also, with patience and urgency, the impossible is achieved.”
As for the financial part, the winner of the UAF Award 2021 will get the opportunity to continue studying in one of the divisions of the ICM Institute, at a value of four thousand euros, which Nourhan indicated by saying: “So far, I have not chosen a specific division, I will consult with my teachers and start the learning journey next year because I focus this year.” on my new job.
Norhan concluded her speech by stressing that “integration into Dutch society requires only learning the language, especially since the Dutch do not look at the refugee with pity, but rather think about how to extend a helping hand to his development and integration.”
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