FANNY (FRANCE)

VOLUNTEERING FROM SEPTEMBER 2024 TO OCTOBER 2025

In September 2024, I landed in Athens, ready to start a one-year journey with Habibi Center, and what a journey!
From the very first day, I felt well at Habibi Center. Why? Because not only does Habibi Center provide classes and workshops, but it also offers students and volunteers a safe space. Pictures, paintings, inspiring quotes, students’ posters, funny LOTR cups, colourful classrooms, it feels like home!

Teaching had always seemed to me like a very hard job that requires so much creativity, adaptability, patience and many more skills. Thanks to Habibi Center’s clever shadowing system, 8-week training, weekly team meetings and rich teaching materials, I discovered that I could teach, and that I love it! Besides teaching, it was a pleasure to take part in the organization of events such as Career Days, Spelling Bee Games, the 2024 Marathon, the bi-annual magazine, not to mention Habibi Center’s 9th birthday! All these events enabled me to better grasp HC’s philosophy and vision.
But what would be my journey without talking about the people who shaped it?

First, there is Stephanie’s kindness and Camille’s trust. Then, there are the 20 volunteers from all around the world who came with the wish to help. Each of them, in their own way, has taught me something and I thank them. Finally, there are the hundred or so students that I have met and who have deeply touched me with their stories, their courage, their desire to learn, their resilience, their beautiful smiles… If Habibi Center has changed and keeps changing many young refugees’s life’s path, it has definitely changed mine too 😌
Fanny