Miriam Agüero, 22, is an international student who arrived in Australia two years ago.
In Brisbane, she studies journalism and marketing at the Queensland University of Technology. It is from there that she assists in the running of a volunteer-run school she co-founded in 2015 to teach and offer a safe space to Syrian children displaced by war, called 26 Letters.
Run out of an apartment in Beirut, Lebanon, and co-founded with sisters Janira and Tamar Taibo and German Pinto, the school offers classes in English, maths, Arabic, and history and ethics to children aged from three to 17.
During her time away from her studies in Australia, Miriam visits her homeland to see her parents and makes sure to drop by the Beirut school, which is currently teaching 100 children, including 95 Syrians and five locals, who have not been able to access the Middle Eastern country's education system. There are 150 others on the waiting list.
"Our school welcomes all children regardless of religion, nationality or economic status," Miriam tells SBS Spanish, adding that in the school most children speak Arabic.
"We start with the basics in English and little by little they learn it and you can see how they progress by the level of English they get."
She explains that a critical element in the school is not to treat the children as victims, but as "people who have had difficulties in life".
She says the main policy is to ensure that every child is greeted with a hug.
"We have to educate them that they also have the right to be loved."
Miriam says many of her students come from situations in which their families have not given them affection or may not feel important because of the contexts in which they live after fleeing their country as a result of the conflict.
Eventually, these children will be able to opt for a job either in Lebanon or in another country, as is the case of Salah, 17, who started attending the school when he was 13.
Salah is currently completing the equivalent of high school, in hopes of entering university.
The founders of the school are aiming to open a second centre focusing on offering career paths to youngsters like Salah.
Miriam considers herself privileged to be able to do humanitarian work and to be able to sit at the table of a Syrian family in Lebanon.
"They give you everything with the little they have," Miriam says.
She says it's critical for everyone to put themselves inside the shoes of immigrants.
"Stop judging, you have to put yourself in other people's shoes," she says, insisting that these people "leave their country because they have no other choice".
The young Spaniard has a long history of humanitarian assistance. In 2015 she stood before the United Nations on behalf of Escuelas Cultura de Paz, an NGO founded by her parents almost 20 years ago to help young people in areas of social exclusion around the world.
