Ghais is a non-binary Syrian computer engineer that came to Istanbul with their family in early 2015 in pursuit of a better life after living for around 15 years in Saudi Arabia. After graduating from the university here, Ghais was inspired by their two siblings Bisher and Ahmad to join I&I as they've both taken leadership roles in the NGO from its early days. After Ghais joined the IT Team, the coordinator at the time decided to nominate them for the role, seeing as they were qualified to succeed him.
Ghais has been in Turkey for about 9 years, where they were able to shape themselves, find their hobbies, and take on their passion for computers. Moreover, Ghais always found themselves gravitating towards NGOs such as I&I, The Aman Project, Fittaish, and some more in the works.
Why do you volunteer?
"When I first joined the NGO, I was welcomed with open arms and accepted as a family member. I found myself loving the dog shelter more than any other project, but volunteering in general gave me this amazing sense of...giving back. I always loved the idea of giving a helping hand to those in need, but due to the lack of money, it was never easy to do it that way. However, I could always donate my time and that was very convenient for me. Month after month, I made lots of precious friendships that I am so thankful for. As of the time of writing this, I cannot wait to revisit the I&I office!"