Hazim

It’s not uncommon to hear kids complaining about the demands of school or bemoaning the amount of homework they have. Hanging out with friends, playing video games or watching movies would often be preferred to sitting in a classroom.

For Hazim, though, school wasn’t something to take for granted. It was something worth crossing an ocean for.

Hazim spent much of his childhood helping his father work as a fisherman in Egypt and seldom went to school. Like many children from low-income families in Egypt, he was expected to add to the family’s income by prioritizing work over getting an education. “In Egypt, there aren’t many possibilities to study, and there is a huge gap between rich and poor people.” Hazim told us. That gap is especially difficult to bridge for poorer families in Egypt; the country’s social mobility ranks in the bottom 14% of countries researched by the World Economic Forum.[1]

In 2015, when he was just 13 years old, Hazim boarded a boat with 350 other people to make the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. His parents were reluctant to let him leave, but he was determined to build a better future for himself and his family in “a more civil country, with more order.” After two weeks with no food and barely any water, he arrived in Sicily. “It was scary,” he admits.
After Italian authorities identified him, they sent Hazim to La Repubblica dei Ragazzi. He began studying basic Italian and attended the local middle school. “In the beginning it was a bit difficult because I didn’t speak Italian and I didn’t have friends, but after I started understanding Italian and made some friends, I started liking school. I am alone here, so I know I have to take of myself and going to school will help me to have a better future. The most difficult thing for me is studying by myself, and I am glad that the Study Center is available at La Repubblica so they can help me.”

Aside from tutoring, La Repubblica dei Ragazzi also offers access to a number of vocational courses to provide citizens with employable skills before they leave the program. In 2017, Hazim attended a vocational training course for hairdressing and took an instant liking to it.

“In the future, I want to be a professional hairdresser in order to help my family in Egypt and one day open my own hairdresser shop. I like this course because I will already have earned my certification before I leave La Repubblica, and I can easily find a job and open my own business. What I like most about the hairdresser’s job is relating to clients before I cut their hair. Besides that, the haircut itself is the most fun.”
In his free time, Hazim practices kickboxing in La Repubblica’s fitness room. “I like that when you are in the kickboxing ring, you are in another world. You only think about yourself and your opponent, you don’t see anything around you, and in that moment you see your whole future. I learned a lot from kickboxing because it taught me to think before acting and have more patience.”

Hazim has been practicing for over three years now and participates in local matches; he won the President’s Cup (La Coppa del Presidente), a regional competition. “When I won, I felt proud of myself and thought that I will have a good future as a fighter in this sport.”

When asked how he feels about living at La Repubblica, he says that he likes meeting new people and has made a lot of friends. “Communities like La Repubblica dei Ragazzi give you the opportunity to go to school, study, grow and understand how to build a future for yourself. The model of self-government here is useful for dealing with the everyday problems that come up between us. It is also very useful for organizing activities among us. Social educators are like our parents. They help us a lot and try to solve our problems.

A Chance In Life is so proud of all that Hazim has overcome to get an education and learn a trade that he loves. If you’re ever in Italy and in need of a stylish haircut…you know who to find!

Hazim

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