In a windowless garage on the outskirts of a vast refugee settlement in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, Nour pored over the Harry Potter books he had saved up to buy.
Not only did they help the Syrian teenager practise his English, but Harry’s fantastical adventures in a faraway land offered him a much-needed escape.
Like JK Rowling’s protagonist, Nour had been orphaned at a young age, losing both his parents in airstrikes when he was just 10. The young wizard’s self-reliance and determination resonated with Nour, who was short on real-life role models.
Few refugees are able to pull themselves out of the rural Bekaa’s grinding poverty, but Nour, now 17, was determined to become the exception. And last…
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