Arash Bordbar, Mentor of Hemyar
Youth Advocate, Refugee Council of Australia and Multicultural Youth

Hemyar

Hemyar Saad

Hemyar arrived in Hong Kong three years ago due to rising unrest in his country in the Middle East. He hopes to work towards a future where the city he lives in and loves gives refugees and asylum seekers the freedom to gain employment and travel, and a life of freedom.

Hemyar is one of five co-founders and Chief Financial Officer of Learning Together, an organisation committed to educating asylum seekers and refugees running since 2015. Despite arriving in Hong Kong with no English fluency, he strove to learn the language, was able to communicate effectively with others within 6 months from arrival and now also teaches English classes on Saturdays and Sundays. He has helped organise a number of activities for the benefit of marginalised communities through Learning Together. For instance, having noted that many females from this community have not had basic schooling in their home country, he developed a basic literacy program and taught 50 adults, primarily women, how to read and write. He also secured an internship at PricewaterhouseCooper Hong Kong as an intern of the Shine Project - a job-based capacity building programme. Currently pursuing his business degree, Hemyar is also enrolled in a part-time Accountancy programme at HKU SPACE. He hopes to work towards a Hong Kong where every individual has access to their basic rights and is able to progress in life. In his free time, Hemyar is fond of studying, and taking part in physical activities such as track and field events.

In Hemyar’s words:

“I believe Hong Kong is the best city in the world. It should be a leader and an example for other places because of the diversity of its people and how international it is. I do not want people here to live as animals anymore and I will work to help refugees and asylum seekers because of this.”

有鑑於中東的祖國政局動亂，Hemyar於三年前來到香港。他希望能夠為自己所居住及所愛的城市努力，並建設一個更接納難民及尋求庇護者的將來，使他們能擁有自由，得以獲聘、得以旅遊。

Hemyar是Learning Together的五個創始人之一，同時擔任財務總監。此團體關注難民及尋求庇護者的教育狀況，且由2015年經營至今。雖然來港時他幾乎一句英文都不懂，但他用盡一切努力提升自己的語文水平，在六個月後已經能與他人有效溝通。現時他每逢星期六日均義教英文。 他透過Learning Together為邊緣社群舉辦了不少運動。其中一例即為以女性為主的成人基本讀寫課程 。在察覺到某些女性在家鄉缺乏基本教育時，他立時著手發展這個課程，到目前為止已有五十人受惠。他亦成功入選以工作為本的能力建設計劃Shine Project，因而得以在普華永道國際會計師事務所實習。Hemyar現正修讀商業學位，同時在香港大學專業進修學院就讀兼職會計課程。他希望能為香港努力，達致每人均享有基本權利及享受人生的願景。閒時，Hemyar熱愛學習及運動，當中又以田徑項目為甚。

他的自述：

「我相信香港是全球最好的城市。它應該成為其他地方的領袖及榜樣，展現出應有的多元及國際風範，廣納各式人種。我不想再看見有人活得像動物一樣。因此，我會盡力幫助難民及尋求庇護者。」