S1, E11 Digital education and displacement

In this episode, LSE Master’s student Ezgi Ilhan interviews Valentina Spinedi, Director of Student Advising at Paper Airplanes. Paper Airplanes is a fully virtual non-profit organization providing educational services to conflict-affected individuals, focusing on displaced Syrians with refugee status. Though many organizations struggled to transition to operating remotely after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Paper Airplanes had the unique advantage of already being virtual, proving advantageous for their programs. In the episode, Ezgi and Valentina talk about the advantages and challenges of providing virtual educational services to refugees, the impact their programs have, why virtual education and language programs are advantageous for forcibly displaced individuals, and the unique way that Paper Airplanes began. What started off as a simple folded paper airplane in a classroom in Turkey has now transformed into an organization with hundreds of volunteers, students, and staff. Listen to the episode to hear all of this and more information on how you can get involved.