A PhD student who fled Syria to study in the UK has spoken of the importance of education in giving young people hope in war zones.

Yara Issa*, 28, is carrying out cancer research at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich – and she is hoping to help develop medicines that will reduce or prevent cancer.

But she recalls how her university building in Aleppo was hit by a bomb while she was sitting a pharmacy exam. The glass window shattered and her friends were left injured by the blast.

Yara made the decision to stay and sit the test despite the chaos unravelling nearby. She did not want to delay getting her degree by missing the exam.

“I finished it but it was a nightmare,” she says. “When I left the building, the scene was terrible. There was a river of blood going down the street. There were ambulances and a lot of screaming.”

Yara was in the middle of her pharmacy degree when the fighting broke out. She kept her head down and persevered with her work despite losing both her friends and her home to the war.

“In order to do anything in the future I had to survive this time,” she says. “It was merely the fact that ‘I am going to finish my degree’ that kept me going.”

Yara was finally able to escape Syria when the Asfari Foundation offered her a scholarship for a masters in the UK – which led to her PhD.

On her first experiences of the UK: ‘I didn’t feel like people had empathy or understanding’ (Helen Hoddinott/The Independent)

But Yara – who was trying to apply for courses abroad with no electricity, heating and limited internet in her home – faced a number of rejections before being given a chance.

“If I didn’t wake up in the morning and realise I didn’t have anywhere to go in my life – apart from applying and trying to find a legal way of leaving the country to continue my passion for higher education – I would not have been able to leave,” she says.

Yara is determined to do more to help other young refugees who are determined to get an education and is now a youth advocate for War Child, the charity working with The Independent on our Learn to Live campaign.

The campaign, in conjunction with the Evening Standard, aims to forge links between students in the UK and their peers who are living in war zones and refugee camps across the world. It is hoped the campaign will increase empathy and understanding of the issues facing young people in different parts of the world.

We are linking schools in the UK with schools in countries like Jordan, Iraq and the Central African Republic to let children whose lives have been devastated by war know that neither they nor the importance of their education have been forgotten.

Yara says: “Providing Syrian children with safety, education, mental and psychosocial support could prevent detrimental long-term effects both in the countries hosting Syrians and Syria itself.”

Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams Show all 14 1 /14 Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams Sara, 11, is a Syrian refugee living in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in an informal tented settlement. She attends UNRWA-funded Jefna school where she is top of her class and regarded as the brightest child in the school by her teachers Paddy Dowling Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams Sara helps her mother Fatima around the house watering the pot plants, washing the concrete ﬂoors and helping to prepare the meals in the kitchen Paddy Dowling Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams Behind the family tent is an old disused quarry where the Bedouins’ sheep graze the hard thistle plants. Sara can see across the Bekaa Valley to the mountains, beyond which is Syria and the distant memories of the old life they had Paddy Dowling Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams Sara is keen to leave the tent, which leaks water from the roof when it rains and in the freezing cold winter months the snow drifts in. She dreams of having a nicer home Paddy Dowling Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams She spends almost all her time in the tent when not at school: her brothers Ali and Deeb won’t let her play football with them Paddy Dowling Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams Hadi, 2, is taught some basics of English by Sara to prepare him for enrolment into an UNRWA school when he is 6. Unlike the others, Hadi was the only one born into tent life. He cares for the stray dogs that visit the settlement and plays with the abundance of stones in the old quarry Paddy Dowling Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams Deeb accompanies Sara to buy bread from a small shop run from a neighbours home. Sara’s family cannot aﬀord to buy luxuries like meat on the $260 per month cash vouchers they receive from UNRWA and therefore their meals only consists of rice, potatoes and salad Paddy Dowling Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams Sara is a beneﬁciary of Educate A Child, a programme of the Education Above All Foundation. As well as core curriculum subjects, she is also receiving psychosocial support to assist her with any trauma she may have been exposed to while ﬂeeing their homes from the civil war in Syria Photos Paddy Dowling Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams Sara and her family visit Beirut on our ﬁnal day in Lebanon. It was Sara’s ﬁrst time on an escalator and, after being cautious at ﬁrst, she soon found her feet and was leading her family around the city with conﬁdence Paddy Dowling Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams When she eventually leaves Lebanon to continue her studies and pursue her dream of becoming a doctor, she imagines the cities will be big and beautiful just like Beirut Paddy Dowling Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams Ali and Sara have never seen the sea, let alone stood on its shores and played in the shallow water. Her brothers are now inviting their sister to come and play with them, which is very unlike things are back home in the tent where Sara’s place is indoors helping with chores Paddy Dowling Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams Sara, Ali and Deeb chase the white water on Lebanon’s coastline. As the waves break on the sand, so too do the barriers between siblings. They laugh together and have forgotten about their struggle for now Paddy Dowling Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams At 11 years old, Sara could never have imagined becoming a refugee. Sitting on a swing in Beirut, she hopes for a better future built on a good education and psychosocial support made possible by EAA and UNRWA Paddy Dowling Syrian refugee in Lebanon: Education is the foundation of my dreams Sara has dreams of moving to Canada, Europe or the Gulf states where she can study in English and eventually become a doctor. She didn’t ask to be a refugee and refuses to give up her ﬁght for a better life. Sara wants to be able to contribute to a society by becoming a doctor to help others Paddy Dowling

The transition from Syria to rural England was not easy, however. When she first came to the UK to study three-and-a-half years ago, Yara says she found the experience “shocking and scary”.

“It was a different universe,” she says. “At the beginning, I didn’t feel like people had empathy or understanding. But I don’t blame them. For me, I was a shy person.

“It was the shock because I came from a different place, from a war zone. But once I interacted and learned more about what they like to eat and where they like to dine, it went really well.”