Aya Habayeb - Captain of our Womens Football Team and a young leader of Tomorrow

This time in our success story, we would like to introduce you to a very special and inspirational personality - Aya Habayeb. Aya is an 18 years old girl from Tulkarem in northwest Palestine with a great talent for playing football. That’s also the way we got to know her. She has been part of our football team in PS4L community center in Tulkarem for over 6 years now and became a leading personality and captain to all the other girls participating in our program. Last year, as a highlight for all of us, Aya was leading our women’s football team at the Street Child World Cup in Doha. If this was not enough, thanks to the Qatar Foundation, all of our participating girls received a full scholarship to the University of Qatar, where they will be able to receive a life-changing opportunity.

For Aya as well as for all the other girls, this opportunity gives them a chance for free schooling, a life without worrying about tuition fees, and the possibility to give back to the community through the sport they love. As it has not always been easy for families to support themselves financially and many of them had to endure life-changing strokes of fate, this opportunity and the upcoming possibilities really help the community and foremost our athletes to fulfill their dreams. For Aya, many things have already changed. After the World Cup, she was able to attend Doha a second time at the Generation Amazing Festival Goal 2022 and just came back a week ago as she got introduced to the university and was present as a young leader of Generation Amazing. 

On day one, Aya met with the manager of the Academic Bridge Program at Qatar Foundation, this program is meant to set the girls up for university. Aya was introduced to the center where the Academic program takes place just in order to help them to have more of an understanding of the program. On day two Aya visited a site for the European Union, where Aya and her fellow Young Leaders were introduced to youth their ages, these youths all come from different backgrounds some came from Morocco, France, Italy, etc.. Later Aya and SCU’s Young Leaders were interviewed for the One Million and One program SCU launched in November; “We spoke about our stories and what Identity meant to us coming from Palestine”, says Aya. “I met many People such as Ambassadors and important people in Qatar”. That night they were invited to a Camel Festival where pictures were taken. On Day 3 of Qatar, Aya participated in a Sports Festival where she and the young leaders played a football match a day before heading back to Palestine.

Aya’s next step will include the participation in  TED in arabic talk in Qatar and many different workshops and projects where she can exchange her views and inputs on football and development while also sharing her inspirational story. 

We are looking forward to accompanying Aya on her future journey and are very proud of what has been achieved till now and share her story on how football can change lives like it changed hers.