A Future Rebuilt: How an Education Grant Helped Ahmed Dream Again

When 18‑year‑old Ahmed Younis fled North Darfur with his mother and seven siblings in early 2024, he carried little more than determination, and his schoolbooks. War had swept away nearly every routine of his young life, but the moment that hurt most was when his school closed. Ahmed had just begun high school, a milestone he had looked forward to for years.

“When the classes stopped, it felt like my whole future froze,” Ahmed recalls. “I kept thinking, how can I become a doctor if I’m not even in school?”

The family’s journey to Egypt was long and exhausting. Their father disappeared into the chaos of the conflict, leaving Ahmed’s mother as the sole provider for eight children, including a toddler only 17 months old. In Cairo, she works whenever she can as a domestic worker, while the family relies heavily on the UNHCR cash assistance she receives every two months. Still, as she puts it, “Every day is a calculation, food, rent, transport, everything is a struggle.”

For Ahmed, continuing school seemed impossible. Even Sudanese community schools, far more affordable than private options, require fees his family simply could not spare.

Everything shifted when Ahmed was awarded an education grant supported by Education Cannot Wait (ECW). The assistance covered his school fees, allowing him to re-enroll without placing further burden on his mother.

“Without the grant, I would have had to drop out.

It didn’t just pay for school. It gave me my hope back.”

His mother agrees. “When he received the education support, it was as if someone lifted a weight off my chest. Ahmed loves to study more than anything. I want him to have what war tried to take from him.”

Today, Ahmed attends a Sudanese school in Cairo along with his siblings. He is known by his teachers and classmates as someone who is endlessly dedicated, always offering help to others. “He’s the kind of student who inspires the room,” one of his teachers shared.

“Everyone loves Ahmed, not only because he works hard,
but because he lifts others up with him.”

Ahmed’s ambition is as clear as it is bold: He wants to rank among the top 100 students in Sudan’s national exams. If he achieves that, he’ll be eligible for a scholarship to study medicine, a dream he has held since childhood.

To get there, he studies early in the morning, late into the night, and every spare minute in between. “When the house is busy, I put my earphones in and keep going. I want to be someone who can help people, someone who can change things.”

His siblings admire him. His mother prays for him. His teachers believe in him. And the education grant—provided through UNHCR with generous support from Education Cannot Wait, has become the foundation that makes all his efforts possible.

Ahmed’s voice softens when he speaks about the support he received.

“To everyone who made this grant possible, thank you. You didn’t just help me go back to school. You helped me take back my future.”

His mother adds her gratitude, “ECW and UNHCR gave my son a chance to dream again. For a mother, there is no greater gift.”

In a small apartment in Cairo, between the sounds of a bustling household and the responsibilities of being an eldest son, a young man studies tirelessly determined to become the first doctor in his family.

Conflict stole his home. It interrupted his childhood. It threatened his education. But thanks to the support of UNHCR and ECW, it did not take away his future.