The first time Moon arrived at Roshan, classes were already full of students and the team was unsure where to put these two eager new young girls. “Please, I need to continue to learn,” Moon remembers saying to Ms. Ariane whom she met on the first day. Moon remembers saying, “Give me a chance, I can just sit outside of the classroom on the floor and take notes.” Her remarkable spirit and determination to keep learning were so clear that she was soon admitted as a Secondary student.

Education can be a complicated web of theory, practice, logistics, and curriculum. Yet, for refugee families that have experienced more than their share of challenges, education is the “simple” priority and focus. This was certainly the case for Abolfazel’s father, who chose Roshan for his children time and time again. Today, he sees his decision shining through as he watches his son Abolfazel budding with hope.

Does kindness heal? Does it have the power to do that? Kindness and healing are two different words that find each other time and again in the cycle of life. It is what we have witnessed at our home, Roshan. At Roshan, people have found healing through serving and being a part of a tight-knit community they can call their own.

Do you remember what it was like to be in middle school? Take a moment and picture yourself at 13 years old. You are becoming more aware of your surroundings, your friends and you start to think more about your identity apart from your family. You are growing up. It’s a lot to navigate with everyone watching and waiting to see how you turn out.

Homesick and unable to return home due to political conditions in Afghanistan, Shir Afzal did not have much to turn to when he first landed in Indonesia. After arriving as a refugee, he was alone and unsure about his future.

At Roshan, we always say that the “impact” of our work is first and foremost, the changing of lives—beyond academic progress or the number of students served. Join us as we share stories about how kindness is bearing fruit all around Roshan.

Roshan brought me many things, it made my biggest dream come true as well as gave me a sense of belonging, community, and togetherness. It gave me hope that I desperately needed.

Several years ago, as a university student in Afghanistan, Musa had a dream: to finish his education so that he could work and serve his country. He was in the middle of pursuing a Science degree when the refugee crisis was beginning to gain momentum. Many of his friends and peers were fleeing to seek safety and asylum elsewhere. “At the time, I didn’t want to become a refugee,” he says. But by 2012, out of the 26 people who had been in his high school graduating class, Musa was only one of two who had stayed.

It all started with a book. While teaching at a Montessori school in Jakarta, Ariane had come across the writings of an Indonesian traveler who spent three years in Afghanistan. She was surprised to learn that there was so much more to Afghanistan than what was being portrayed on the news. She was very intrigued and soon found herself dreaming about her own journey to the region.

In the early 2000s, a fresh graduate from the University of Southampton in the U.K. decided to set off on a solo journey to Asia. Having just finished her degree in European Studies, she wasn’t quite sure what to do next -- so she packed her bags and headed south. “I always said that I didn’t want to be a teacher when I was younger,” Anneke says. But somewhere between Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia, she realized what she wanted to do was teach.

Maryam and Ahmed were only eight and seven years old when they left their home country of Yemen in 2015. Born to a Yemeni father and a Somali mother, the pair of siblings spoke only Arabic when their family first arrived in Indonesia. 

It was in July 2013 that Armin’s parents told him they were leaving Iran. As a young boy just about to turn 11, he was excited: this would be his first trip outside of his home country. The family was heading to Australia. At the time, he didn’t realize that they would be embarking on this journey as asylum-seekers, hoping to take refuge in another country.