Our Students
All of our students have been affected in some way by conflict in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Nearly all are originally from Syria, and have moved across the Middle East into Turkey and other nations. A significant portion of our students still, however, reside in Syria.
Paper Airplanes was founded primarily to serve Syrian refugees, whose access to education and employment has been fragmented due to the Syrian war. Since the inception of our first English Language Program in June 2014, we have watched as our students fled from Syria to Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and European countries. Their situations have often improved in host countries, but access to education remains unstable as they navigate new languages and cultures as well as financial and familial responsibilities. Paper Airplanes' programs take place via video chat (on FaceTime, Skype, Google Meet, and other platforms), allowing our volunteers to reach those in need anywhere, anytime, as long as they have access to the internet.
