Fellows
Anita Khoder, Erfan School – Dahr El Ahmar, Rachaya
I have a BA in English Literature from the Lebanese University. I joined Teach For Lebanon because I believe that the prosperity and development of our country lies in the hands of those young students who one day will become adults and take responsibility over the future of the country. Knowing that one of the aims of TFL is to eliminate educational inequality in underprivileged areas guiding those young students to become successful leaders I saw a big similarity between TFL and one of these young students that is bound to shine and prosper in the near future. In the end I can't but say, "I am PROUD to be a fellow."
Charbel Dadde, Halba Maronite School
I am a graduate from the Lebanese University with a degree in Engineering. I joined Teach for Lebanon simply because I believe in teaching through a mission and in the change that this particular mission will make.
Dana Hamzeh, Erfan School – Dahr El Ahmar, Rachaya
I graduated from the University of Guelph-Humber in Canada with a BA in Business Administration with honors. I decided to leave Canada this year where I have lived for 12 years in order to give back to my country. The reason I decided to join Teach For Lebanon is because I believe that schools and education are the basis for growth and prosperity. In addition to that I felt that there needs to be change in our education system in order to create a more diverse and knowledgeable generation, and what better way to do that than to start at the source. I am very happy and lucky to be part of such a great mission and I highly enjoy all the little milestones that are evident everyday in our schools.
Diana Maddah, Erfan School – Dahr El Ahmar, Rachaya
I am a Medical Laboratory Technology Graduate from the Faculty of Public Health, Lebanese University. I believe that being a Fellow at TFL exceeds the routine of giving lectures and heading back home. I am here because I trust that this experience will bring students to actually love going to school – which is a feeling I did not have growing up – and this is where I believe change comes to be.
Farah Bayoumi, Saida Generations School
I graduated from the American University in Beirut with a BA in Public Administration. I joined TFL because I think that "making the world a happier place" can be less impossible if we help the fresh young minds have a proper education. The easiest way to start is from the core. I believe the perfect platform for making a real change would be in one’s own country, and in this case it’s Lebanon.
George Saliba, Halba Maronite School
I have a BA in Business Administration from the University Of Balamand. I am in TFL because it represents the launching of a new era for evolution. I believe that TFL is adopting the mindset of: “think global, act local”, with its continued effort in bridging the gap of educational inequality between rural and urban areas. TFL has given me the chance to explore another side in me - a side which I am proud to have stimulated. I believe that my status as a Fellow and as a Lebanese citizen entitles me to be one of the key people to directly influence the new generation, one in which we can invest the mistakes of the past in order to be rewarded with a promising future. I am really honored to be a Fellow at TFL.
Joseph Rahme, Halba Maronite School
I am a Computer Science Graduate from Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK). I never thought I would be living in a rural area for two years to teach at an underprivileged school, as far as can be from my field of study. Yet I never knew it would feel this good to actually be doing a well appreciated effort to make a change. I know for a fact that those will be two years that neither I nor my students will forget.
Lamece Basiri, Ansar Typical School
I graduated with a BS in Medical Laboratory Technology from the American University of Beirut. I joined TFL because I believe that every child no matter what background they come from has the right to a decent education.
Rima Sherkawi, Ansar Typical School
I graduated with a BA in English Literature from the Faculty of Linguistics at the Lebanese University. I joined TFL because I believe that all children despite their socio-economic status should get equal opportunities to get proper education and have hope in the future. TFL opened up the first door for me towards achieving my goal.
Salyne El Samarany, Barsa Maronite School
I graduated with a BS in Nutrition & Dietetics from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK). I joined TFL because I believe in the mission. Every child poor or rich should have equal Education opportunities in Lebanon. When we have the will we can change the world. I hope my contribution will be the start of a change.
Youssef Simaan, Halba Maronite School
I graduated with a BS in Biology from the American University of Beirut. I didn’t know at first that the TFL experience would be that enriching. It is just incredible to see how much you will keep on learning from your students –even more than you think you’re teaching them. The best factor about it all, aside from the fact that the students can be the best thing to ever have, is that I, as a fellow, have loved the students before anything, even before meeting them, and before loving to teach them. In the end, it is the spirit of the mission that just overflows to reach out everybody. Life with the fellows in a new place far from home is something not to be missed at all as well. Meeting new people could have never been better than as in such circumstances, where you all exhibit the same wavelengths and meet to support each other, and work for the same cause in order to give your best for two years of your lifetime.
Zeina Hamady, Saida Generations School
I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. As soon as I started working in the design industry, I realized that it would just be silly of me not to abandon it all to pursue what my system has always known to be its one true calling: Academia. Obviously, one must be qualified to teach, and unfortunately, this one wasn't. I had no Master's degree and no one in their right mind was willing to hand me a class full of eager little minds. But Alas! There they were, Teach for Lebanon, with their shiny red apple, their heart-warming vision, their baby steps into the unknown, and their willingness to share all that with those of us who seem to have a fetish for that sort of thing. I quit my job the very second I heard I had been accepted, and I haven't looked back since. Seriously, I haven't really had the time to look back, seeing as I have to make sure I teach 550 students something new every week for the next two years.