TRINITY SANCTUARY FUND Support a student at risk today Karim Al Abbasi talks about his journey from Syria to Trinity Dear Friend ‘I’ve always loved studying, especially maths and science and languages, but doing the junior cert, or its equivalent, in Syria when I was 15 was extremely challenging: life was disrupted; there were shortages of food, medicine and basic provisions; we had electricity for perhaps two hours a day and in winter, Syria is freezing… despite all of this, I managed to get excellent grades in the exams and was one of the top students in my city. I was very happy the next year when my older brother, who was working as a software engineer in Dublin, was able to get us to Ireland on the family reunification scheme. It was difficult enough the first few years: we lived in a few places round Dublin before being put in direct provision. That was far from my school in Dundrum so it meant a long commute, and life in direct provision isn’t easy. But I made good friends in school and I really focussed on improving my English. In spring 2020, just after lockdown, Dublin City Council moved us into a house in Crumlin. We’re really grateful for that. We love it. I would have preferred to actually sit my Leaving Cert instead of getting calculated grades due to COVID, but I did well enough that I got onto the Foundation Year in the Trinity Access Programme. That was during lockdown, so we were only occasionally on campus but still I count it as one of the best years of my life. The teachers and staff and Please read on.
Download PDF file