9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Saida Aden Said: I still have[br]this horrific image in my mind.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I could see people falling down,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
gunshots.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I was so terrified.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Really, I was crying a lot.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Someone who knew my father and my mom

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
grabbed my hand, and he said,[br]"Let's go. Let's go. Let's go."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And I was, like, "Where's my mom?[br]My mom? My mom?"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Noria Dambrine Dusabireme:[br]During nights we would hear shots,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
we would hear guns.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Elections were supposed to happen.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We had young people going in the street.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They were having strikes,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and most of them, people died.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
SAS: We boarded a vehicle.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It was overloaded.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
People were running for their lives.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That is how I fled from Somalia.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
My mom missed me.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Nobody told her where I went.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
NDD: The fact that[br]we did not go to school,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
we couldn't go to the market,[br]we were just stuck home

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
made me realize that if I got an option[br]to go for something better,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I could just go for it[br]and have a better future.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Music)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Ignazio Matteini: Globally,[br]displaced people in the world

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
have been increasing.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Now there are almost 60 million[br]people displaced in the world.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And unfortunately it doesn't stop.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Chrystina Russell: I think[br]the humanitarian community

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is starting to realize[br]from research and reality

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that we're talking about[br]a much more permanent problem.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Baylie Damtie Yeshita: These students,[br]they need a tertiary education,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a degree that they can use.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If the students are living now in Rwanda,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
if they get relocated,[br]still they can continue their study.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Still, their degree is useful,[br]wherever they are.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
CR: Our audacious project[br]was to really test

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Southern New Hampshire University's[br]global education movement's

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
ability to scale,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to bring bachelor's degrees[br]and pathways to employment

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to refugees and those who would otherwise[br]not have access to higher education.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
SAS: It was almost impossible,[br]as a refugee person,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to further my education

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and to make my career.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
My name is Saida Aden Said,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I am from Somalia.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I was nine years old when I came to Kakuma

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I started going to school at 17.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Now I am doing my bachelor degree

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with SNHU.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
NDD: My name is Noria Dambrine Dusabireme.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I'm doing my bachelor of arts[br]in communications

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with a concentration in business.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
CR: We are serving students[br]across five different countries:

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Lebanon, Kenya, Malawi,[br]Rwanda and South Africa.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Really proud to have 800 AA grads[br]to over 400 bachelor's graduates,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and nearly a thousand students[br]enrolled right now.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So the magic of this

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is that we're addressing[br]refugee lives as they exist.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There are no classes.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There are no lectures.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There are no due dates.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There are no final exams.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
This degree is competency-based[br]and not time-bound.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You choose when you start your project.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You choose how you're[br]going to approach it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
NDD: When you open the platform,[br]that's where you can see the goals.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Under each goal, we can find projects.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
When you open a project,[br]you get the competencies

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that you have to master,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
directions,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
an overview of the project.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
CR: The secret sauce of SNHU

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is combining that[br]competency-based online learning

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with an in-person learning[br]that we do with partners

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to provide all the wrap-around supports.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That includes academic coaching.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It means psychosocial support,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
medical support,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and it's also the back end[br]employment support

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that's really resulting[br]in the 95 percent graduation,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the 88 percent employment.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
NDD: I'm a social media management intern.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's related to the communications[br]degree I'm doing.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I've learned so many things[br]out of the project and in the real world.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
CR: The structured internship[br]is really an opportunity

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for students to practice their skills,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for us to create connections[br]between that internship

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and a later job opportunity.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Music)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
This is a model that really[br]stops putting time

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and university policies[br]and procedures at the center

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and instead puts the student[br]at the center.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
IM: The SNHU model

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is a big way to shake the tree.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Huge.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's a huge shake to the traditional way[br]of having tertiary education here.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
BDY: It can transform[br]the lives of students

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
from these vulnerable[br]and refugee communities.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
NDD: If I get the degree,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I can just come back and work[br]everywhere that I want.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I can go for a masters[br]confidently in English,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
which is something that I[br]would not have dreamt of before,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I have the confidence[br]and the skills required

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to actually go out[br]and just tackle the workplace

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
without having to fear[br]that I can't make it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
SAS: I always wanted[br]to work with the community.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I want to establish a nonprofit.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We advocate for women education.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I want to be someone

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
who is, like, ambassador

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and encouraging them to learn

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and tell them it is never too late.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's a dream.