.webp){kind=small}
“Before the war, I was an ordinary university student studying computer science in Gaza,” says Ahmed, a young Palestinian man. “I was interested in software, in how the web works, and in building things that people could actually use.”
In October 2023, Ahmed’s life changed dramatically when a missile struck his home while he was inside. Rescued from the rubble, he survived. “My university was destroyed weeks later,” he says. Since then, Ahmed and his family have been repeatedly displaced, from one temporary shelter to another. “The ordinary parts of life — shelter, water, electricity, safety — stopped being ordinary,” he says.
Despite these conditions, Ahmed remained determined to continue his education. He borrowed a laptop from a relative and relied on free online resources to keep learning. “The biggest challenge was not the learning material,” he says. “It was the conditions under which I had to study.” With limited resources and frequent blackouts, sometimes lasting days, Ahmed often had to walk up to an hour and a half to reach a working electrical outlet or a faint Wi-Fi connection.
Continuing learning with Kiron
“I joined Kiron in early 2025, after more than a year of trying to piece together learning from whatever I could find online,” Ahmed says. “What I needed was structure — a way to validate and consolidate the skills I had been teaching myself in isolation.”
Ahmed began learning on the Kiron Campus each day. “Some days it was four hours. Other days, just 30 minutes,” he says. “What kept me going was that the platform was designed for people learning under difficult circumstances.” The flexibility of self-paced learning was key. “During months of displacement, with unstable electricity and internet, a self-paced format was the only thing that worked for me. Kiron gave me that.”
The path to employment and re-entering university
Through Kiron’s courses, Ahmed refined his technical skills and built a strong portfolio, enabling him to secure freelance work. “Before Kiron, I was writing code that worked. After Kiron, I started writing code that was maintainable, accessible, and reviewable, which is the standard that freelance clients and employers actually expect,” he explains. “In practical terms, the projects I delivered became cleaner and more functional than anything I had built before.”
Ahmed also participated in Kiron’s SkillsForward program, which helped him connect his learning to real career opportunities. “Through SkillsForward, I was able to focus my learning more intentionally and better understand how to translate my skills into opportunities,” explains Ahmed. “Overall, Kiron helped me reach a clearer picture of what a serious career in frontend development looks like.”
Over the past two years, Ahmed has worked as a freelance frontend developer for various local retailers, NGOs, and small businesses, often in extremely challenging circumstances. “I have delivered projects during blackouts by pre-downloading assets, drafted responses on battery-saving mode, and held client calls on mobile hotspots that cut out halfway through,” he says.
His end goal was to continue his bachelor’s degree. “Learning with Kiron allowed me to present myself as a serious candidate when I applied to universities abroad,” he says. This year, Ahmed is proud to share that he earned a spot at Ireland’s prestigious University College Dublin in the computer science program.
Moving forward
Looking ahead, Ahmed is excited to study at University College Dublin and, in the future, eager to contribute to the Irish tech industry.
Reflecting on his Kiron journey, he shares a message for other prospective learners. “If your situation is anything like mine was — interrupted, unstable, uncertain — you may feel that formal learning is not something for people like you. It is.”
“The conditions are not fair, and they will not become fair on their own,” he says. “But the decision to keep learning, even for thirty minutes a day when that is all you have, accumulates into something real over time.”
“Don't wait for the perfect setup,” urges Ahmed. “Learn with what you have, from where you are. “Document your work publicly — on GitHub, on LinkedIn, wherever — because that visibility is what eventually brings other people into your story and helps carry you forward.”
