Sakhr Munassar left Yemen, his home country, almost 10 years ago and is not likely to return in the near future. On 29 June 2020, he will have been in Dunedin for 4 years. He attended Otago University as a Rotary Global Grant alumni scholar in the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. He mentioned that in his earlier years he attended several schools.
His 1st Rotary contact was while attending Wisconsin High School as an Exchange student in 2007. A Brazilian student, who was also football mad, came from a Rotary family. He then went to University in Beirut and obtained a Diploma in Public Policy and Communication. To increase his knowledge and expertise, he received a scholarship to the American University in Washington, then returned to Lebanon to create a project for Yemen to be completed in March 2015.
In October 2014 the conflict in Yemen broke with the borders and airports closing. He returned to the States, got residency, reconnected with his Brazilian mate and researched for a Global Peace Scholarship. Rotary International accepted his application and was successful in obtaining a space at Otago University. He received his NZ residency in December 2019.
His Mum and sister are relatively safe in Yemen. His sister is now studying and does not want to leave Yemen. The last time he saw his family was in 2015.
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