Football star Mo Salah drops in on an Egyptian school
Salah, an Ambassador for Instant Network Schools, pays surprise virtual visit to classroom at a school in his native Egypt.
Footballer and UNHCR and Vodafone Foundation Ambassador for Instant Network Schools (INS), Mohamed Salah. © UNHCR/Andy Hall
Liverpool striker Mo Salah gave children at Al Farooq Omar school in Cairo a day to remember last month when he paid a surprise virtual visit to share his views on the benefits of digital learning.
Salah, is an Ambassador for Instant Network Schools. The initiative, set up in 2013 by the Vodafone Foundation and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, works in some of the most marginalized communities in Africa to give young refugees, local communities and teachers access to digital learning content and the internet.
To date, INS supports 56 schools across six African countries, benefitting 129,000 students. Eighteen of the schools are in Egypt.
Laughs, cries and giggles filled the classroom as a big TV screen flashed on and suddenly Salah appeared. Students’ faces lit up as he called out their name and talked to each one.
That moment when one of the best players in the world surprises students in Egypt 😍 👇
— UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) November 18, 2021
Thank you @MoSalah for standing up and saying that education matters 🙏 @UNHCREgypt @VodafoneFdn pic.twitter.com/QnVW2wXgH5
“I’m always a supporter of a proper education. (Instant Network Schools) …. is a fantastic idea. We need to be proud of something like this,” Salah said.
Salah is the English Premier League’s top goal scorer and captain of Egypt’s national team. The students, some refugees and others Egyptian, peppered him with questions about his childhood and career.
One student, Abdelrahman, posed a question that could have made headlines around the world had Salah answered it. “Where do you want to go after Liverpool,” he asked cheekily.
Salah only laughed and said he wondered if Abdelrahman happened to be a journalist.