15 year old Yehya Z. S. has had interest in building since he was 9 years old. He was one of the participants for the Carpentry workshop ran by Green Helmets for three months where he had the opportunity to hone his skills. Yehya has always had nifty fingers, using any opportunity he has to build.
Back in his hometown, Hama, Syria, he would spend his weekends at his father’s workshop. The young boy’s face beamed with pride as he recalled the experience working with the Green Helmets at the Ouzai shelter. Yehya gushes about the skills he has learned from them – different from what remembers picking up from his father’s workshop.
During the three-month period, he has learned how to design products according to the type of wood available and skilfully cut the word accordingly. The workshop also gave him the opportunity to learn from older men from the shelter who has had prior experience working in building and construction.
Ending off sharing his experience working with the Green Helmets, Yehya spoke fondly of the Green Helmet volunteers treating them
with great respect and it made the workshop experience especially memorable for him – he was given the opportunity to express himself through carpentry.
Spending the school holidays in the shelter playing PUBG with his friends, he yearns to go back to Syria someday, where he can continue his studies to achieve his dream of being an engineer someday.
Yehya understands the importance of taking up opportunities to learn new skills. He strongly recommends other youth to grab opportunities handed to them, such as the carpentry skills that can be useful for them in future.
“I want to tell other youths out there that we have a difficult life as refugees at the moment. Please stay in school and work hard because we are the future of our nation. When we go back home one day, we will have the power and knowledge to build the country and help others who are in our current situation.”
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