NHS Students Inspired By CAC Alumna and Caritas Case Worker, Rana Abadeer'16:
Our National Honor Society (NHS) students welcomed CAC alumna, Rana Abadeer'16 to hear the story of her life after CAC, entering university, and making the brave decision to switch majors and career paths two years into an engineering program. Rana shared some wonderful memories about her time at CAC, especially how she was an avid MUN participant and was incredibly involved in a variety of CAC activities on campus. The NHS students, our resident "overachievers", resonated with Rana's story on multiple levels. Many students were particularly interested in learning the details about her transition into the world of non-governmental service work. When given the opportunity to ask Rana questions, she graciously answered all manner of eager inquiries ranging from what her favorite courses were at AUC (notably, a course on comparative religions taught by Dr. Elizabeth Kennedy, a beloved CAC parent, and community member) to how she overcame numerous job rejections before landing her dream job at Caritas, a UNHCR Organization that takes care of African refugees in Egypt and provides them with educational, emotional and psychological support (95% are unaccompanied African refugees with no blood relatives in Egypt). CAC alumni are truly making a difference in the world today and we are so grateful for the opportunity to hear their stories first-hand.
Inspired by Rana, our students decided to initiate a service project; a drive to support refugees in Egypt via Caritas with Rana's guidance and support. Our students learned a lot from the experience and as a result of their efforts, our CAC community managed to collect and donate enough school supplies, clothes, and blankets to support them throughout the year. With an aim to also ensure they are provided a chance of education, the CAC community, especially our faculty/staff provided books and school materials for the refugees to benefit from.
Hats off to all our CAC community for making a making a huge difference in the lives of these refugee communities by providing some of their basic needs; and especially to our students and Rana for raising awareness about Caritas Egypt among our CAC community, thus providing more opportunities for people to support them.
