“Education gave me direction when everything else felt uncertain. It is the key to so many doors, it can unlock opportunities”.
Amadou, 25 years old, Guinea
When Amadou, from Guinea, by a stroke of fate met The HOME Project team at one of our Community Building Events back in 2016, he couldn’t have imagined what would follow. Nine years later, he is graduating with a Master’s degree in International Development and Diplomacy from Sciences Po in Paris, having also successfully completed an internship at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
He still vividly remembers that first encounter with members of our staff. “I felt like the luckiest person in the world”, he says. “For the first time in a long time, I had people by my side who truly believed in me”.
That moment marked the beginning of a new chapter, one rooted in safety, opportunity, and hope. After enduring a complex and difficult journey, Amadou had arrived in Athens alone, as an unaccompanied minor. “The HOME Project gave me a foundation”, he reflects. “They supported me in every way — psychologically, socially, legally, and academically”.
With his basic needs finally met, Amadou turned his focus to education and quickly began to flourish. Although he initially attended a Greek public school, he struggled with the curriculum in an unfamiliar language. Refusing to give up, he contacted the Lycée Franco-Hellénique Eugène Delacroix in Athens to ask how he could enroll. The HOME Project supported his application and covered his tuition. Highly motivated, he integrated quickly – he was even elected student council president.
Despite his academic and social success, his legal status remained uncertain. His initial asylum claim was rejected. So was his first appeal. Greek asylum legislation was becoming increasingly strict, and his second rejection arrived at a crushing moment: just as Amadou had learned he’d been admitted to Sciences Po Paris, one of Europe’s top universities. He had applied to the Euro-African program and was awarded the prestigious Émile Boutmy scholarship, which supports outstanding international students. He had made it, but without legal residency, he couldn’t leave Greece to study.
“It’s like being a criminal, not having an ID”, he admits. “I told myself, I will not let myself down. I will not give up school. I had been granted an opportunity that not everyone has, and I was determined to make it count”. Finally, in July 2020, the phone rang with good news: his asylum rejection had been overturned. Amadou was granted international protection and with it, the chance to pursue the future he had fought so hard for.
He went on to complete his Bachelor’s degree, then earned a Master’s at Sciences Po, became the President of the African Student Association (ASPA) and secured an internship at the OECD’s Development Co-operation Directorate, working on global development and international cooperation.
As graduation day approaches, a quote from a book he once read, during a summer working in hospitality on the Greek islands, comes to mind. One line by 19th-century slavery abolitionist Frederick Douglass still resonates deeply: “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free”.
Education is something Amadou has championed all along. “Education gave me direction when everything else felt uncertain. It is the key to so many doors, it can unlock opportunities”, he emphasizes. Now, as Chair of The HOME Project Youth Advisory Board — an initiative he helped bring to life — he’s working to ensure that young people can actively contribute to the strategy of the organization, and shape the decisions and services that affect their lives.
He admits to feeling nervous as he embarks on the next chapter: searching for his first job. “My goal is to become a diplomat and advocate for the values I hold dear — empathy, inclusion, and justice”, he concludes.
Based on his journey so far, we’re confident that nothing can hold him back from achieving his dreams. And he knows that we’ll always be by his side, to cheer him on, proudly watch him excel, and support him whenever he needs us.