{"id":473622,"date":"2022-07-13T18:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/syrian-refugee-turned-civil-activist-found-calling-as-blockchain-evangelist\/"},"modified":"2022-07-13T18:01:00","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T15:01:00","slug":"syrian-refugee-turned-civil-activist-found-calling-as-blockchain-evangelist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/syrian-refugee-turned-civil-activist-found-calling-as-blockchain-evangelist\/","title":{"rendered":"# Syrian refugee turned civil activist found calling as blockchain evangelist"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3f38f6b1c24\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3f38f6b1c24\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/syrian-refugee-turned-civil-activist-found-calling-as-blockchain-evangelist\/#%E2%80%9D_Syrian_refugee_turned_civil_activist_found_calling_as_blockchain_evangelist_%E2%80%9C\" >&#8221; Syrian refugee turned civil activist found calling as blockchain evangelist &#8220;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/syrian-refugee-turned-civil-activist-found-calling-as-blockchain-evangelist\/#From_petroleum_engineering_to_civil_society\" >From petroleum engineering to civil society\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/syrian-refugee-turned-civil-activist-found-calling-as-blockchain-evangelist\/#Launching_his_own_NGO\" >Launching his own NGO\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9D_Syrian_refugee_turned_civil_activist_found_calling_as_blockchain_evangelist_%E2%80%9C\"><\/span>&#8221; Syrian refugee turned civil activist found calling as blockchain evangelist &#8220;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-28d77a7a>There is an educational website for beginning crypto users called ZeFi. The site has helpful introductory lessons, some interesting articles and a look of sincerity, much like other sites. However, none of it is that different \u2014 at least not in English. Its special feature is the language button in the upper right corner that reveals the Arabic version of the website.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is really nothing about blockchain in Arabic. [\u2026] And once you find something in Arabic, it is mostly influencers that are trying to pump and dump coins,\u201d ZeFi founder and CEO Karam Alhamad said. The Arabic version of ZeFi is fuller than the English. It has culturally informed examples and starts with the very basics. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cZeFi started with the idea of explaining what is money first\u201d to people who \u201chave never used banks, or credit cards or PayPal, people who have no sense of what money is,\u201d Alhamad said. To figure out how to explain blockchain, Alhamad and his associates went to their grandmothers to start.<\/p>\n<p>ZeFi began as a Telegram group and made its premiere online in March of this year. It also retains its connection to the telephone. Internet access is scarce in some of ZeFi\u2019s service areas, which is mainly Syria and Iraq, but nearly everyone has a mobile telephone, Alhamad said. <\/p>\n<p>Translation challenges were everywhere \u2014 bull markets and bear markets, for example. Even \u201cblockchain\u201d was hard to translate, and it was hard to explain against a background of monarchies and dictatorships, where the centralization of power and order is complete. Nonetheless, ZeFi developed vocabulary and is now working on a technical dictionary with graphics.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"From_petroleum_engineering_to_civil_society\"><\/span>From petroleum engineering to civil society\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Alhamad is a first-year student at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs. He got there by a circuitous route that began at a Syrian college in 2011 when Alhamad was studying petroleum engineering and the Syrian uprising broke out.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The uprising was \u201ca new purpose, a new goal,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Alhamad became an activist and was detained by authorities four times between 2011 and 2013. The fourth time, he was held for nearly a year in an overcrowded underground facility. But he was not deterred. <\/p>\n<p>It was after his final imprisonment, when he was working for civic society groups, is when Alhamad first heard of cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2022-07\/8ab49aa5-3c1d-47d7-8c7e-861eb8a8aa75.png\"><figcaption style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Alhamad speaking to Cointelegraph.\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s hard to send money,\u201d he said. \u201cI know it\u2019s a very limited aspect of crypto in terms of transactions, but it\u2019s really very hard, and back then we were trying to find other ways that we can receive money from donors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alhamad had bigger things to worry about, though. The following year, he and his brother fled to Turkey and then <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zendetta.com\/\">created<\/a> a website devoted to his experiences in Syria. Described as an animated graphic novel, it is indeed somewhat graphic, and also lyrical. <\/p>\n<p>Alhamad received a liberal arts degree from Bard College Berlin, but was blocked from completing a degree in the United States by Donald Trump\u2019s executive order, widely referred to as a \u201cMuslim ban.\u201d He got married and worked in development organizations. <\/p>\n<p>In 2019, Alhamad began to think about the potential of blockchain <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> for building a civil society. In 2020, he quit his job and set out to create his own nongovernmental organization (NGO), the ZeFi Foundation. <\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Launching_his_own_NGO\"><\/span>Launching his own NGO\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The ZeFi Foundation was in full swing by early 2022. It provided grants to Syrians to pay for university <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lications and related costs and led workshops for 22 civil society NGOs in Syria to talk about the political aspects of blockchain and how to use blockchain for human rights activism and organization. Using blockchain for data storage was another big topic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re recording human rights atrocities of the regime, or even in opposition areas, you don\u2019t want to use Google docs and suddenly have everything lost,\u201d Alhamad said.<\/p>\n<p>At ZeFi they talk very little about crypto trading, Alhamad said. This is unsurprising since opportunities for trading are limited in its focus area. The organization aims to develop the capacity of NGOs to use blockchain so they will be ready to take advantage of it \u201cwhen it is completely legalized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Related: <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>Human rights activists take aim at privileged crypto critics in letter to Congress<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One of Alhamad\u2019s hopes for blockchain is that it will help deliver more money to places that need it. With conventional money transfer systems, \u201ceverybody gets a cut\u201d \u2014 subcontractors, operational costs and transfer fees eat into transfer sums, and sometimes less than 10% of the announced sum of a grant makes it to Syria, he said.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, even as Alhamad <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/news.yale.edu\/2022\/06\/24\/syrian-democracy-activist-overcomes-detentions-barriers-path-yale\">studies<\/a> in New Haven, there is plenty for the ZeFi Foundation to do. In areas controlled by the opposition in Syria, there are service gaps. It is a struggle to keep utilities and food distribution going and to meet similar needs that had been the responsibility of the government. <\/p>\n<p>ZeFi is in talks with civil society groups in areas controlled by both the government and the opposition. It does not make all of its activities known, but Alhamad said ZeFi is discussing unifying vaccination records \u201ceven without getting any sort of political agreement from the military forces in these areas.\u201d It is also in talks on using nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to record refugees\u2019 educational and other qualifications.<\/p>\n<p>Syria has already seen some blockchain applications. The United Nations has used blockchain to distribute food aid to refugees. A for-profit company called Hala Systems uses blockchain technology to manage user-provided event records. It also uses the information to provide air raid warnings to civilians via Telegram. <\/p>\n<p><template data-name=\"subscription_form\" data-type=\"crypto_biz\"><\/template><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/syrian-refugee-turned-civil-activist-found-calling-as-blockchain-evangelist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8221; Syrian refugee turned civil activist found calling as blockchain evangelist &#8220; There is an educational website for beginning crypto users called ZeFi. The site has helpful introductory lessons, some interesting articles and a look of sincerity, much like other sites. However, none of it is that different \u2014 at least not in English. Its&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":473623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/1200_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjItMDcvNWFhMDZiMDItNzI3ZC00NTI0LTk2MWMtMWI0OGQ2MTI1ZDk1LmpwZw==.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74894,74355,117,25460,71577],"class_list":["post-473622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-blockchain","tag-adoption","tag-business","tag-middle-east","tag-syria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}