Ravdanur Cuma, a Syrian refugee who lives in Turkey and is currently studying at UC Riverside, visited Cal State San Bernardino on May 4 and spoke on the importance of education at a program presented by World Affairs Council Inland Southern California and Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and College of Education.
Cuma presented “Surviving Loss — Thriving in Life: Education Matters” to a full classroom at the College of Education.
Before war broke out in Syria in 2011, Cuma (whose first name is also spelled “Rawdanur”) and her family lived in Idlib, a city in northwest Syria. When the conflict spread to her town, her parents and eight brothers and sisters fled. They eventually found their way to the Kilis Oncupinar Settlement, a refugee camp in Turkey. Cuma wanted to continue her education, but classes in her native Arabic were few, so she taught herself Turkish.
An article in the Malala Fund’s blog said Cuma introduced herself to Selin Yildiz Nielsen, co-founder of a refugee advocacy group called Glocally Connected, while she volunteered at the camp. “She introduced herself and asked if she could have my phone number,” Nielsen said. “She was trying to teach herself Turkish and practice with anyone she met. She called me every night. In about two months, she was near fluent and I was amazed.”
Cuma became a liaison between the camp youth and the administration, helping to set up programs to enhance morale and educational opportunities. She graduated from the camp’s high school and was accepted to Hasan Kalyoncu University in Gaziantep, Turkey, where she studies political science and international relations.
Because of her incredible accomplishments in learning Turkish culture and language so quickly and using her new knowledge to help other refugees, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan invited Cuma to the capital, Ankara, to be recognized and granted her wish for Turkish citizenship in 2016.
In May 2016, she was invited by the Malala Fund, the organization led by Malala Yousafzai focused on helping girls go to school and raise their voices for the right to education, to speak at the World Humanitarian Summit held in Istanbul, Turkey.
Before United Nations officials and world leaders, she made an impassioned plea: “No child should be without education because her country goes to war. … I stand with my sister Malala and ask all the world leaders for action, not sympathy. For funding, not speeches. For you to remember us and fight for us when you go home, not forget about us until the next summit. Please hear the voice of millions of children and send them back to school.”