Words by Smiley Team
Helping refugees access university, 19 small businesses have collaborated with London-based charity Mosaik Education to launch the Unlock Shop. Till 30th June their online store will sell stationery, jewellery, gifts, clothing and more, all with an ethical twist and a powerful message.
Uniting to support the initiative are Brighton-based jeweller Halina Mutinta, ceramicist Isabel Avery, and candle makers, Bouclé among others. For each item purchased, part of the profits will help further the charity’s work providing courses and technology to help refugees progress in their lives through invaluable access to higher education.
Announcing the launch, Mosaik founder Ben Webster said: “We are super excited to launch this collaboration with an amazing group of small business owners.
“We were incredibly impressed and grateful to many small businesses that volunteered to help us with our fundraising this year, despite the financial challenges presented by Covid-19. We hope this initiative can raise awareness of the barriers refugees face in education - and help raise money that directly supports refugees in reaching university.”
Among the entrepreneurs supporting the initiative is Bronwyn Lowenthal founder of sustainable womenswear label Lowie, who has a personal attachment to the cause. “I am the granddaughter of refugees and have great sympathy for those who have had to flee their homes to seek new life,” she said. “I’m so lucky to have been to university twice and believe everyone deserves an education.”
After fleeing from tragic events such as war, persecution or natural disasters, refugees then face significant barriers to education and employment. Only three per cent will make it to university, one of the most effective means for them to find work and establish a new life. This compares to 37 per cent of youths worldwide who enter higher education.
Mosaik is tackling this problem by working with refugees to develop the basic skills they need for university and offering them access to essential technology used in education.
They focus on refugees in the Middle East, offering a combination of digital courses and peer-to-peer support. This covers language skills, knowledge gaps and wellbeing. They collaborate with the young refugees and design programmes to suit the needs of each local community.
Partnering with organisations in Jordan and Lebanon they trained over 100 local and refugee youths in 2019 alone. This year they aim to expand their work, establishing an additional three community centres in these areas.
For Ammar, a student from Syria, Mosaik’s workshops helped him prepare to apply for university. He said: “The program introduced me to so many scholarships I did not know about. It gave me an understanding of university scholarships and their requirements and the different kinds of education.”
Amal, a 20-year-old Syrian student living in Lebanon had similar experiences which led to her successfully applying for the Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) scholarship to go to university.
She said: “University is my biggest dream and most important goal that I try to achieve. My advice to students who are trying to reach higher education is not to give up. We should not give up. We need to keep trying once, twice, even three times. And if an opportunity did not work out there are other opportunities out there, especially for learning online.”
To help more young people like Ammar and Amal access education, visit the Unlock Shop before 30th June or donate directly to Mosaik here.
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