The ILearn initiative was launched in 2012 as a response to the lack of educational opportunities and learning spaces in underserved communities. Saddam Sayyaleh and a group of young people who have experienced hardships and inequalities first-hand decided to come together and try to address some of these issues themselves.
The group started to informally work with disadvantaged children on a volunteer basis with the support of community-based organizations, parents, and caregivers, and the community as a whole and that is when they started to see some positive results for both the children and youth. After a few trials and errors, the model for the initiative emerged. The model assists at-risk children and youth to bridge a gap caused by the socio-economic and educational challenges and helps to address the weaknesses in underserved communities.
The initiative was formally registered as Nasjo for Training, a non-for-profit company in 2018.