Maya Ghazal, a Syrian refugee residing in the UK, is taking her dream of becoming a pilot to new heights.
As part of its "Everyone Counts" campaign, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and British actor Douglas Booth, who recently played Nikki Sixx in Netflix's The Dirt, accompanied Ghazal on a flight and watched her make her first solo journey.
When talking about flying, Ghazal oozes with passion. "I fell in love with the adrenaline and how you feel up in the air; how you have control of your path, where you go and [that] you draw it," she said in the UNHRC's video. "You decide, and nothing is really limiting you."Damascus-native Ghazal joined her father in the UK after the situation in Syria became too dangerous."Civil war in Syria started eight years ago. In the end, it [was] just not bearable anymore. Electricity, water and going to school were not safe anymore," she told Booth. When speaking about her refugee status, Ghazal said that: "we just want to be viewed as normal human beings, with normal potentials, and hopes and dreams and futures that we want to build."
After the interview, Ghazal flew Booth in a small plane and then landed to drop him off so that she could make her first solo flight, a major milestone on the path to becoming a pilot.
