Bringing Higher Education Opportunities to Sinjar

Despite his young age, Bassam has always been passionate about promoting peace and making positive improvements in his hometown of Sinuni.

When ISIS overtook Sinjar, Bassam and his family fled to Kurdistan and endured six years of internal displacement in a refugee camp known as Khanke. Despite the dire living conditions, Bassam remained committed to peace-building as a key to improving the lives of everyone in his community.

His own curiosity about the role of peace and conflict resolution, led him to Jesuit World Learning (JWL) and their dedicated Peace Program.

"This program has brought significant changes to my life. It has changed my view of the community and the issues that must be addressed. It has broadened my perspective on diversity and differences, and also helped me become a logical thinker when it comes to problem solving."

After completing the course, Bassam joined JWL as a Peace Leader course facilitator. Today, he is proud of teaching the value of peace to young peacemakers, while actively promoting its virtues among his community.

"My wish is to put an end to extremism in my community, since it fosters racism. I hope that we can all live in peace, free of political and religious conflict. I will continue to make as many positive changes in my community as I can, by teaching both English and the Peace Leader course."