Empowering Displaced Persons and Refugees to Become Online Language Teachers and Tell Their Stories Across the World with Aline Sara (Ep 166)

Hear how her family’s experience of war shaped a mission to build dignity, opportunity, and connection across cultures. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE Aline Sara takes us on her journey growing up in a Lebanese immigrant family in New York and reflects on how her family’s experience in Beirut during the civil war shaped her passion for international human rights and conflict resolution.  She shares her extensive world travel experiences through Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, as well as Sub-Saharan Africa and South America. Matt and Aline talk about the international solidarity dynamics among oppressed people around the world, in countries ranging from South Africa to Chile to Ireland.  Aline then talks about her experience working as a journalist in the Middle East during the Arab Spring.  She explains how the Syrian refugee crisis was the main inspiration for founding NaTakallam as a language learning social enterprise.  She explains the mission is to empower displaced persons and refugees to work as online language teachers, regardless of their location and status, and to virtually pair them with students who are also interested in hearing their stories.  Aline talks about how she scaled NaTakallam, how she finds and hires the teachers, and shares some examples of their lives prior to being displaced.  She also talks about the customer experience, the expansion of NaTakallam’s service offerings, and explains how it provides an opportunity for refugees and displaced people to tell their stories across the world, and to build bridges across cultures. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU See my Top 10 Travel Apps See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!