Samer Chamsi-Pasha, of Edinburgh-based Firefly International, has now expressed hope that the country can recover from the years of war.
He said he was struck by his desire for equality and progress.
“I was impressed with him,” said Samer.
“He’s very soft-spoken, very articulate and was very well-versed in the topics discussed – everything from border security, relations with the international community, issues with supplies of water, bread, electricity and incidents of criminality.
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“He said all Syrians are equal and no-one should be getting privileges before anyone else. He said the law should protect everyone because he is trying to avoid going into a sectarian system.”
Samer said this was a major development for Syria in terms of how the country has been ruled for the last 54 years.
“It was always about who you knew – the law was applicable for some but not for others and the people who were privileged got everything and the people who were underprivileged got nothing,” he said.
Samer added that the new leader’s plans were “extremely ambitious” but it was a very difficult period of transition for the country after the overthrow of dictator Bashar al-Assad (below).
However, he said al-Sharaa had emphasised on a number of occasions that he did not want anyone to carry out retribution against the old regime, even if they were part of the army or a part of the security services.
During his fact-finding visit, Samer also found Syrian people were optimistic about the future despite the difficulties facing the country after the years of war.
However, the charity has been forced to suspend its work in northern Syria because of continued fighting amongst various factions. It had been running classes for more than 335 children in the ATAA refugee camp for internally displaced people.
The charity is now repurposing all its education programmes for children to make sure they can be taught remotely wherever they are.
Its innovative YouTube learning channel, aligned with the Syrian curriculum, has already reached more than seven million views, offering critical support to teachers and students.
“It is by no means ideal because WiFi can be non-existent and cell phone data can be really expensive but it is a lot better than nothing,” said Firefly director Jane Salmonson.
The charity also works with Syrian refugee children in Turkey where a project that started with one teacher for 25 children, now has 65 teachers and is teaching over 1000 children every month.
Jane said their parents are keen to return to Syria but are wary of going back until they know their children can continue their education.
“People are really excited and longing to go home but they don’t want to until they know they can put their children into school,” she told the Sunday National.
“At the moment, they can’t because Syria infrastructure has collapsed and many of the teachers left during the war.
“Yet it does sound really optimistic and hopeful and although it is not all going to be better tomorrow, it should be setting Syria on the path for recovery and returning to normality.
“However there are plenty of forces out there, both internationally and more locally, who are going to try to prevent a smooth transition to normality so, while it is exciting, things can change.”
The charity also works in Bosnia where its first project began at the end of the civil war. It was set up by a young Edinburgh University student, Ellie Maxwell, whose father was an aid worker in Bosnia.
She saw the need to heal ethnic divisions and set up an arts-based playgroup to bring Bosnian Serb, Croat and Bosniak children together.
Sadly, she died of complications from cancer just 11 years later when she was only 32, but the charity continues and the Bosnian project attracts 150 children a month.
Despite expanding into the Middle East, the charity remains small and relies on private donations which bring in an annual income of around £300,000.
Most of the money goes overseas as the overheads are low, with one full-time and two part-time members of staff operating from a small, shared office in an Edinburgh basement.
“We punch above our weight,” said Jane. “It is difficult raising funds but it is important to help children who are affected by war so we do as much as we can.”
www.fireflyinternational.org