A Bermudian working with displaced teenagers in Lebanon’s refugee camps said she believes that Bermuda’s generous spirit influenced her to help people in the war-torn country.

Sasha Hosier, who has been involved with the Alsama Project — an educational non-governmental organisation — said the experience opened her eyes to the challenges young people face across the world in accessing education.

She noted: “Working with displaced students made me realise how privileged Bermuda is in comparison to the rest of the world.

“I’m grateful I grew up with an environment with secure access to education — a basic right not available to the students I work with now.”

Ms Hosier said that she believes Bermudians are “especially charitable, not only financially but also with their time and energy”.

She said this aspect of the island’s culture influenced her to pursue her chosen path.

Ms Hosier moved to Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, in November as a volunteer and now works on Alsama’s project development team.

Led by Meike Ziervogel, a German novelist, and Kadria Hussein, a Syrian community leader, the project began in 2020 as a small female empowerment centre in the Shatila refugee camp.

There, more than 90 per cent of people live in extreme poverty and more than 40 per cent of refugee girls marry before the age of 18.

In the beginning, Ms Ziervogel and Ms Hussein provided awareness sessions to the girls, educating them on their right to refuse early marriage.

However, the need for more comprehensive education became apparent as the vast majority of refugee youths are out of school, with many teenagers being illiterate and innumerate.

Today, the organisation serves almost 1,000 teenagers across two refugee camps in Beirut, teaching them core subjects such as English, Arabic and mathematics.

Ms Hosier said she was completing her studies at Newcastle University in England when she was told about the NGO.

“It’s really been incredible … it’s been really transformative because I work in the camp so I can see the impact the organisation has, something I wouldn’t necessarily see unless I was there,” she said.

The camps comprise tall, rundown urban buildings and Ms Hosier said the children — most of whom escaped Isis in Syria — were enthusiastic to learn.

Ms Hosier said this became striking during a magazine project she ran, designed to teach students crucial research and writing skills that would help to prepare them for university.

She explained that the fluency of the students’ English means she uses that language to communicate with them but she is also working to learn Arabic.

The project “is very much the students’ last chance for education”, she said, as it is for anyone who would otherwise be out of school.

Ms Hosier explained: “That’s because refugees, for documentation reasons, are excluded from the Lebanese national education system.

“Syrians in particular face additional issues having access to education; that’s our target student.”

By focusing on teenagers, the organisation is able to provide an “end-to-end” education, she added.

“We start at complete illiteracy and we take them all the way up to being university-ready,” she said.

Ms Hosier said that the school, which expanded to have four hubs across Lebanon, provides an “extremely accelerated, intensive programme” that is taught over 44 weeks annually.

Through one of its founders, Alsama introduced cricket — a passion shared by its students and Bermudians alike.

Cricket is seen as the “perfect sport” for the school because it is completely non-contact, Ms Hosier said, adding that it enables Muslim boys and girls to play together.

“Cricket is Alsama’s secret sauce,” she said, noting that the school found that education and cricket complement each other.

“I definitely share a passion for cricket, as many Bermudians do … a passion which peaks around Cup Match,” she added.

This year, conflict reignited in Lebanon, putting both Alsama’s education and cricket programmes at risk as Beirut has become a battleground in the escalating US-Israel-Iran war.

Alsama was prepared, having earlier dealt with the 2024 Hezbollah-Israel war, Ms Hosier said, when the school rapidly switched to online learning while continuing in-person teaching for its top-year students.

Ms Hosier said the organisation was the only education provider in Lebanon to keep its doors open throughout that crisis and is doing the same again in 2026.

She pointed out that bombs have been falling in and around the refugee camps where Alsama’s education centres are located.

As such, remote learning and other arrangements were put in place and the school’s year 5 and 6 students were moved out of the camp to learn in a safe zone.

Education is especially important for the Year 6 students, who will attend university this September, Ms Hosier added.

Students have earned places at the University of Cambridge and University of Leicester in England, the University of British Columbia and Huron University in Canada, and Arizona State University in the United States, among others.

The school is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, so students earn the equivalent of a US high school diploma.

Its plans include the opening of another centre across the border in Syria this month.

“Which is not great timing but Alsama will not stop in war,” Ms Hosier pointed out.

“We are an amazing organisation who operate in a very challenging environment and will not be deterred by anything,” she added.

At the moment, Alsama is running an emergency JustGiving campaign to support the students’ education during the crisis. It can be found through the school’s Instagram account.

• Anyone interested in learning more about the Alsama Project can e-mail sasha.hosier@alsamaproject.com