
First Bricks: Lifting Refugee Children
First Bricks, an Embrace Relief program, provides free online education to refugee children worldwide who have missed school due to conflict and displacement. With over 200 volunteers and 3,000 students, the initiative offers academic courses and social activities to help children catch up and develop compassion.
The useful part before the long read.
Refugee children often miss years of school due to conflict, displacement, and language barriers.
First Bricks is a free education program launched in 2019 by Embrace Relief to support underprivileged refugee children.
The program has mobilized over 200 professional volunteers to teach more than 3,000 students globally.
First Bricks offers 17+ online classes ranging from math and science to guitar lessons and story hours.
The Education Gap for Refugee Children
Millions of refugee children worldwide are often years behind the education level they should be at for their age. This is because they often miss months—if not years—of school because they must hide with their parents to avoid conflict in their countries. And when they flee with their families, the journey and asylum process in a new country can also take months or years, which prohibits them from attending school as well. Furthermore, there is a language barrier they must overcome in order to learn in their new countries.
First Bricks Program Overview
Hence, First Bricks, a program created in 2019 by a devoted teacher volunteering for Embrace Relief. Dedicated to supplying underprivileged refugee children the education they need and deserve for free, First Bricks has grown substantially since its onset.
What First Bricks Has Accomplished to Date
- 200+ Volunteers—The volunteers are professionals in their areas of focus ranging from teachers and engineers to artists from all over the world. They give their time, talent, and knowledge to help students most in need across the globe.
- 3000+Students—The volunteers not only teach the students a variety of courses, they teach them to give back to their communities. Giving back instills in children the idea they can make the world a better place, one small project at a time. Therefore, First Bricks students develop their academic skills as well as compassion, social awareness, relationship skills, leadership, and more.
17+ Online Classes—First Bricks offers courses in math, science, reading, writing, language (including English), and more to underserved children refugees. First Bricks also offers social activities and classes such as guitar lessons and story hours. And the best part about the classes—they’re all online, especially crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has greatly negatively impacted refugee children’s education. Even the UN children’s refugee agency UNICEF is having difficulty funding remote education for refugee children during the pandemic.

Education
Support students with school supplies, scholarships, classrooms, and education access.
Please Donate or Volunteer Today
First Bricks has been nothing but a resounding success since its inception and continues to grow at an impressive pace, but it can always use more volunteers and donors. Please consider volunteering or donating today to help provide refugee children the education they need and deserve, but have been stripped of through no fault of their own. Donations go toward school supplies, books, and gifts for the children, and computers for volunteer teachers so they can teach and easily connect with the students enrolled in the programs.
Click here to become a Volunteer!
Click here to become a Student!
Click here to donate for the cause!