How One ENGin Volunteer Turned Restlessness Into Real Impact
- ENGin Program
- 5 hours ago
- 5 min read
There is a particular kind of restlessness that comes not from laziness, but from circumstance — from being an energetic, curious person in a world that has, for the moment, closed its doors.
Osama Raii, an 18-year-old student from the coastal region of Syria, knows that feeling intimately. And it was from within that restlessness that he discovered something that would change the course of his life: a small nonprofit connecting Ukrainian students with English-speaking volunteers for weekly conversation practice, called ENGin.
This is his story.
A City, a Young Man, and Three Months of Uncertainty
Osama is quick to tell you that he hates only two things in life.
"The first is humidity," he says with a laugh, "because we don't have much electric power in my city to turn on the air conditioner."
The second is boredom — and in the months following the fall of the Syrian regime in late 2024, boredom became an unwelcome companion.
For nearly three months, Osama found himself confined to home. Not by choice, but by circumstance. The situation in his region was deeply unstable, and like most people around him, going outside simply wasn't an option. For someone who loves swimming, cycling with friends, and walking through forests, the stillness was more than frustrating. It was suffocating.
"Staying at home with nothing to do was not just boring," Osama reflects. "It was also stressful."
A Question to an AI That Changed Everything
Determined to do something useful with his time, Osama began searching for opportunities online — courses, webinars, events, anything that could connect him to the wider world from his living room. Internet access in Syria is unreliable and power outages are frequent, making online work far from easy. But Osama was persistent.
One evening, he turned to ChatGPT for the first time and typed a simple question: What are online volunteering opportunities?
The answer that came back included ENGin.
"I thought artificial intelligence was something not useful," Osama admits. "But after starting my journey with ENGin, I changed my opinion about AI."
It was a small moment with a large ripple effect. Within weeks, Osama had signed up as an ENGin volunteer — one of hundreds of English-speaking people around the world who give an hour of their time each week to help Ukrainian students practice conversational English during an extraordinarily difficult period in their country's history.
Volunteering With Ukraine: What the Conversations Actually Look Like
Ask Osama about his sessions with his Ukrainian conversation partner — called a "buddy" in ENGin's warm, community-driven language — and he lights up.
One exchange sticks with him above the rest. The two had started the session on a perfectly practical note, talking about how to write professional emails. Then, somehow, the conversation drifted. One word led to another, and before long they were comparing Syrian and Ukrainian cuisine.
"I was surprised that Syria and Ukraine share many foods," Osama says. "Cottage cheese, some kinds of herbs, dough dishes — things I didn't expect we would have in common."
It's a small detail, but it captures something essential about what ENGin does: it doesn't just teach English. It builds bridges between people who might otherwise never meet, and it reveals just how much those people have in common.
For Osama, the experience dismantled a long-held assumption. Before ENGin, he had quietly worried that people outside Syria might be dismissive or unkind toward someone from his part of the world.
"I thought all people outside my country would be disrespectful," he says honestly. "But after being with ENGin, I changed my opinion about foreign people. Many people I have met were so kind and respectful."
Learning About Ukraine — and Listening
Volunteering with Ukraine didn't just give Osama the chance to share his language skills. It gave him reason to learn. Curious about the lives of the students he was meeting, he began researching what daily life looks like in Ukraine during wartime — particularly in areas closest to the front lines.
He watched documentaries, read articles, and came to understand, in a more visceral way, the resilience required to study, work, and simply live under such conditions. One detail that stayed with him: footage of communities using fishing nets to protect their homes and streets from drone attacks.
"I started to figure out how Ukrainians live during the war," he says. "It changed how I see things."
This kind of empathy — forged through genuine human connection — is precisely what the ENGin program is designed to create. When an 18-year-old from Syria is researching the daily realities of a student in Kharkiv or Zaporizhzhia, something meaningful is happening. A wall between two distant worlds is quietly coming down.
From English Tutor to Initiative Founder
Perhaps the most remarkable chapter of Osama's ENGin journey is what it inspired him to build.
After months of conversation practice, cross-cultural discovery, and growing confidence in what education can do, Osama launched his own initiative: Aurora. Described as a global project designed to help people around the world find language exchange partners and access free English-speaking clubs, Aurora is a direct expression of what Osama learned through ENGin.
"I always thought that to help people you have to give them money, a house, or sometimes medicine," he reflects. "But after ENGin, I realized there is more than food or money to help people with. There is education — which in many cases is more important than food, water, and a house."
When he invited his ENGin buddy to become part of Aurora, the response moved him more than he expected. His buddy said, simply: "I didn't think ENGin would be as interesting as this."
"That statement seems normal," Osama says. "But for me it was not — because it motivated me to keep going with my project."
One Volunteer's Hope for the Future
Osama believes he may be the only Syrian currently volunteering with ENGin. He hopes that won't be true for long.
"I hope ENGin will grow and expand to reach other countries like Syria," he says. "Because here, people are suffering — and they need connection, too."
His wish reflects something deeper than personal ambition. It's a recognition that programs like ENGin — which use the simple, powerful act of conversation to connect people across language barriers and cultural divides — have a role to play far beyond any single country's borders.
For now, Osama keeps showing up every week as an ENGin volunteer, one conversation at a time. And somewhere in Ukraine, a student is practicing English, learning that the world outside their window is full of people who care.
Could You Be the Next ENGin Volunteer?
Osama's story began with a single question typed into a chatbox late at night in Syria. Yours could begin right here.
ENGin connects English-speaking volunteers with Ukrainian students for one hour of conversation practice per week. No teaching experience is needed — just a willingness to show up, listen, and talk. The impact, as Osama's story shows, goes far beyond language.
Sign up as an ENGin volunteer today and become part of something that changes lives — including your own.
ENGin is a nonprofit program dedicated to supporting Ukrainian students through the power of language and human connection. Learn more at enginprogram.org.
