NAWWAR: I’m happy to be in Germany because there is no war. My name is Nawwar. I am seven years old and I live in Berlin for three months.

ALEC: I am Alec. I live in Berlin and I’m seven years old.

Nawwar and Alec became good friends at school after Alec acted as his translator. The boys attend school with students from more than 60 countries.

ALEC: It’s really interesting that he went really far. He started in Syria, travelled to Turkey, then to Greece and then to Germany.

NAWWAR: And it was a really hard journey. The most difficult part was sleeping on rocks and climbing up mountains and down mountains … up and down. And on the boat.

During the dangerous sea crossing, Nawwar imagined he was protected by friendly polar bears.

NAWWAR: We have seen friendly white bears. The best part of my journey was the white bears.

With Alec’s help, Nawwar is learning more German every day.

ALEC: He’s one of the best readers in our class. He’s made a lot of friends so far and probably will make many more friends this school year and he’s just really good in school.