Still I Rise

We want to revolutionize the global education sector, ensure school access to those social groups that have the greatest difficulty in accessing it, truly guarantee the right to education because education is one of the fundamental elements of a strong society and a free individual.

It's not enough to replicate existing projects, we had to be far-sighted and dream big: we have partnered with IBO (International Bacchalaureate Organization) to offer a globally recognized diploma to migrant, stateless and vulnerable minors. We can't give them a stronger passport, but we can give them a stronger diploma.

The Elevate Prize would help us take this work to the next level: it would be a megaphone to expand this collective mission, for the good of all. Financial support would be pivotal, but even more important would be the network and the ability to amplify the voice of Still I Rise and the leaders being trained in our schools.

By the end of 2021, we will be present in 8 countries, 6 of which are countries plagued by long-term crises, wars, violence. Our aim is to strengthen the society at the base. We will open 2 schools every year.

I'm a writer and human rights activist from Italy. I'm the president and Executive Director of Still I Rise, and I was among the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize 2020. I was awarded the CIDU Prize for Human Rights by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, for the awareness-raising activities in the field of refugees and migrants that we carry out.
I've lived and studied in India where I graduated in Journalism at Symbiosis International University in Pune. I then moved to Samos (Greece) and in 2018, together seven founding members in Italy, we founded Still I Rise and opened Mazì, the first school for refugee children in Samos. Throughout 2020 we opened an International School in Gaziantep (Turkey), a youth center Ma'an in the city of Al Dana (Syria) and an International School in Nairobi (Kenya).
Our mission: to provide education and protection to refugee and vulnerable children in the hottest spots of global migration by providing innovative olistic approach.
Our vision: one day all children will be guaranteed an education, a safe place and a better future.
We want to change the world, one child at a time.
We believe in the transformative power of education.

We provide high quality education and a safe space for refugee children across the world.We focuses on them because the proportion of refugees enrolled in secondary education is more than two-thirds lower than non-refugees:84% against 24%.

Where we work now:

• Gaziantep: Turkey is the largest refugee host country in the world with 3.6 million refugees.Gaziantep has 500,000 refugees. 200,000 are children.Average attendance in secondary school among refugees is 10%;
• Samos: The refugee camp was built for 700 refugees,currently over 7000 live there,2000 are children;
• Nairobi: Kenya hosts over 400,000 refugees,16% of refugees live in urban areas,mainly Nairobi;
• Syria: Al-dana hosts 840,000 refugees,58% are children. 

In Turkey and Kenya we operate through the “education for reconstruction”
model,establishing international schools for underprivileged, out-of-school,orphan and refugee children from stable urban communities.
In Greece and Syria we operate through the “education in emergencies" model,providing education and psychosocial support to refugees and IDPs children living in informal settlements/refugee camps.

The schools we'll open in 2021:

• Democratic Republic of Congo: we'll address the issue of child-labour in coltan mines in Katanga throught an emergency school;
• Colombia: we'll open an International School.The Colombian socio-political context will allow us to support Venezuelan refugees.

We see education as a cultural and humanitarian bridge: we want to create humanitarian corridors based on education. We offer IB (International Bacchalaureate) diploma to refugees, stateless and vulerable kids who live in difficult and challenging contexts.

We strive to educate our students to become leaders in the future, people capable of changing the world to create a more peaceful and equal tomorrow. We believe that the student-centered, world-oriented philosophy of IB education matches our educational method and that this  approach is the winning strategy to reach this huge goal.

There is no admission requirement in order to attend the IB years, therefore a selection process is in place before the beginning of their first year of attendance (namely, the PY, preparatory year).

The educational approach of Still I Rise is student-centered. Bringing the people that are part of the school community to the very center of our care and intervention is our top priority. We prioritize the 1:1 relationship with all of our students, families, guardians and staff members in order to create a strong, genuine sense of community. The Education Director models the schoold curriculum with the Eductaion Manager of each school, to deliver a tailor-made education program.

We fight for human rights, children's rights, the right to education. In addition to the activities in schools we carry out an intense advocacy work: our goal is to raise awareness. Political will is fundamental to make some situations change, but it is necessary to provide everyone with the necessary tools to understand the surrounding reality and the daily challenges that some people face.

Our long-term goal is to foster a real empowerment of the society in which we operate, is to train the leaders of tomorrow, leaders who are sensitive to social and environmental issues. The goal is to trigger a chain of change that is unstoppable and has an increasing impact. 

Millions of refugee children lack access to education and, in refugees camps, face multiple challenges to their safety and security, with many ending up in child labour.

We educate game changers, children who will become the wind of change in
local and global communities.
We give ourselves a clear direction. Peace is our goal and education is our vehicle.

We teach children to care in order to make the world a peaceful place.
Respect for oneself, for others and for the world are key drivers of change.